LIBRARY 

OF  THK 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

oir^r  OK 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALS WORTH. 

Received  October,  1894. 
Accessions  No.<^.  - 


CHRIST  IN  HISTORY; 


OB, 


THE  CENTRAL  POWER  AMONG  MEN. 


BY 


ROBERT  TURNBULL,  D.  D. 


"  History,  as  a  whole,  is  a  successive  revelation  of  God."  —  SCIIELLIJTO. 

"  All  the  intractable  and  contradictory  problems  of  philosophy  find  their 
solution  in  Christ." — VijfET. 

"  The  gospel  is  the  fulfilment  of  all  hopes,  the  perfection  of  all  philosophy,  the 
interpreter  of  all  revolutions,  the  key  to  all  the  seeming  contradictions  of  the 
physical  and  moral  worlds  (  it  is  life,  it  is  immortality."  —  JOHN  VON  MULI.KI:. 


BOSTON: 
.PHILLIPS,    SAMPSON,   AND    COMPANY. 

LONDON:  SAMPSON  LOW,  SON,  AND  COMPANY. 
1854. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1853,  by 

ROBERT    TURNBULL, 
the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Connecticut. 


8TKKEOTYPED   AT  TIIK 
BOSTON     S  I  K  U  E  O  T  V  1'  B    F  O  U  N  i)  II  V  . 


PREFACE. 


Owing  to  the  author's  distance  from  the  press,  a  few  typographical  errors  have 
slipped  into  the  work.    The  reader  will  please  correct  the  following 

E  E  K  A  T  A . 

p.  22,  line  8  ;  for  are,  read  and. 

p.  33,  line  5  ;  for  Pure,  read  Practical. 

p.  36,  Note,  line  11 ;  strike  out  Histm're. 

p  40,  line  4 ;  for  Plato,  read  Pluto. 

p.  101,  line  5 ;  after  this,  supply  in. 

p.  liUl.  line  13;  fur  \'et  nature.  Yes,  nature. 


multitudinous  waves,  chase  each  other  over  the 
bosom  of  the  deep,  and  are  finally  ingulfed  in 
a  stormy  sea. 

Under  the  steady  gaze  of  philosophic,  and 
especially,  of  Christian  thought,  much  of  this  cha 
otic  aspect  of  society  disappears.  Order  begins 
to  emerge  ;  principles  and  laws  are  recognized ;  a 
progress  and  a  purpose  are  discerned.  To  attain 
this,  however,  requires  a  lofty  stand-point  and  a 

(3) 


8TKRBOTVPKD  AT  TIIK 
BOSTON     S  T  E  1J  E  O  T  V  r  U    F  O  U  >'  l>  H  Y  . 


PREFACE. 


To  unreflective  minds  history  appears  only  as 
an  intricate  or  confused  mass  of  details.  Change 
follows  change,  revolution  presses  upon  revolution. 
Now  all  is  a  dead  level  of  monotonous  usage, 
then  all  is  unaccountable  and  startling  transition. 
New  forms  of  religion  and  politics,  of  customs 
and  manners,  play  their  brief  hour  or  age,  then, 
in  their  turn,  grow  old  and  vanish  away.  Em 
pires  rise,  decline,  and  fall.  Love  and  hate,  piety 
and  atheism,  justice  and  injustice,  peace  and  war 
contend  for  the  mastery.  At  one  time  the  world 
is  luminous  with  hope,  at  another  dark  with  de 
spair.  Individuals,  families,  and  nations,  like 
multitudinous  waves,  chase  each  other  over  the 
bosom  of  the  deep,  and  are  finally  ingulfed  in 
a  stormy  sea. 

Under  the  steady  gaze  of  philosophic,  and 
especially,  of  Christian  thought,  much  of  this  cha 
otic  aspect  of  society  disappears.  Order  begins 
to  emerge  ;  principles  and  laws  are  recognized ;  a 
progress  and  a  purpose  are  discerned.  To  attain 
this,  however,  requires  a  lofty  stand-point  and  a 

(3) 


4  PREFACE. 

far-reaching  vision.  The  whole  domain  of  hu 
man  affairs,  like  a  landscape  from  the  summit  of 
a  mountain,  must  lie  in  comprehensive  unity  be 
neath  the  gaze.  Inspiration,  indeed,  long  ago 
discerned,  and  in  brief,  pregnant  utterances,  indi 
cated  the  true  condition  of  humanity ;  but  ages 
had  to  elapse  before  it  could  be  comprehended,  and 
above  all  exhibited,  in  any  thing  like  a  philosoph 
ical  or  coherent  form.  Indeed,  the  idea  of  univer 
sal  history,  or  of  history  as  a  unit  and  a  system,  is 
the  product  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Even 
now  there  are  cultivated  minds,  and  among  them 
a  few  distinguished  historians,  who  can  recognize 
in  it  no  central  or  all-comprehending  force.  It 
is  only  occasionally,  and  as  a  compliment  to  re 
ligion,  that  they  acknowledge  the  presence  of  the 
Deity ^dn  the  affairs  of  man.  Some  of  them 
would  even  eliminate  all  such  conceptions  from 
history  as  mystical  and  irrelevant.  It  is  a  happy 
circumstance,  however,  that  the  more  profound 
and  philosophical  historians  are  the  most  inclined 
to  recognize  the  divine  element.  Even  those 
metaphysicians  who  have  sometimes  been  sus 
pected  of  pantheistic  infidelity,  Vico,  Fichte, 
Schelling,  and  Cousin,  have  given  this  idea  the 
most  distinct  expression.  Cousin,  especially,  has 
recognized  it  in  the  fullest  and  most  eloquent 
terms.  It  may  now  be  regarded  as  the  settled 
conviction  of  the  leading  thinkers  of  the  world. 


PREFACE.  5 

Bossuet,  in  his  Universal  History,  was  the 
first  to  elucidate  and  apply  this  great  thought. 
Still  his  work  is  neither  thorough  nor  philosophi 
cal.  It  possesses  the  character  of  a  grand  histor 
ical  sketch,  intended  for  popular  impression.  In 
several  respects  its  range  is  narrow  and  ecclesi 
astical,  being  confined  too  much  to  the  mere 
theocracy  of  the  Jews,  and  the  hierarchy  of  the 
Papal  church.  The  state  is  absorbed  in  the 
church,  and  the  march  of  history  is  described 
only  from  the  Roman  Catholic  view.  The  his 
torical  details  are  meagre,  and  sometimes  inaccu 
rate.  Still  it  possesses  the  great  merit  of  recog 
nizing  the  presence  of  God  in  the  affairs  of  men, 
and  describing  the  succession  of  events  with  a 
grave  eloquence. 

Much  more  profound  and  philosophical  is  the 
sublime  idea  which  runs  through  the  New  Sci 
ence  ( Scienza  Nuova)  of  John  Baptist  Vico,  that 
singular  Italian  thinker,  who  united  the  brevity 
and  obscurity  of  Heraclitus  to  the  depth  and 
force  of  Plato.  He  maintains  that  the  divine  ele 
ment  underlies  humanity  in  all  its  phases,  and 
may  be  recognized  even  in  the  superstitions  of 
the  heathen  cultus.  Still  he  gives  undue  promi 
nence  to  the  mere  natural  element,  and  falls  into 
some  singular  crudities  and  absurdities.  Had 
Jonathan  Edwards  been  more  familiar  with  gen 
eral  history,  and  in  his  History  of  Redemption 
1* 


6  PREFACE. 

applied  the  leading  thought  which  pervades  that 
work  to  the  general  course  of  human  affairs,  he 
would  have  created  an  era  in  historical,  as  he 
has  done  in  theological  research.  Herder,  with 
less  depth  of  intellect  or  force  of  character,  but 
with  a  wider  and  more  liberal  range  of  study, 
starts  from  the  same  fundamental  position  as 
Bossuet  and  Vico,  and  shows  how  art,  science, 
language,  poetry,  and  religion  mingle  in  the 
march  of  humanity  towards  ideal  perfection. 
His  system,  however,  is  too  narrow  and  empirical 
for  a  complete  explanation  of  the  phenomena  of 
history.  F.  W.  Schlegel  follows  in  the  same 
track,  with  considerable  reach  of  thought,  and  a 
distinct  recognition  of  fundamental  principles. 
He  does  greater  justice  than  his  predecessors  to 
the  influence  of  the  remoter  Oriental  nations; 
still  his  work  strikes  us  as  superficial  and  frag 
mentary.  Like  Bossuet,  he  is  too  much  under 
the  influence  of  Papal  views,  and  fails  to  give  a 
complete  or  philosophical  exposition  of  the  sub 
ject. 

Bunsen,  in  the  first  volume  of  his  Hippolytus, 
presents,  in  aphoristic  form,  a  comprehensive 
sketch  of  the  philosophy  of  history,  in  a  manner 
much  more  complete  and  satisfactory  than 
Schlegel.  Marred  by  rationalistic  fancies,  and 
obscure  or  incomplete  ontological  statements, 
his  view,  upon  the  whole,  is  the  most  sat- 


PREFACE. 


isfactory  we  have  seen.  It  distinctly  recognizes 
the  great  truth  of  God  in  manifested  form,  and 
especially  in  Christ,  as  lying  at  the  foundation 
of  all  religious  and  historical  development. 
From  his  vast  learning,  Bunsen  clearly  sees 
that  humanity  cannot  permanently  rise,  except 
through  the  influence  of  the  new  and  supernat 
ural  force  imparted  by  Christianity, 

Of  late  years  two  or  three  works,  chiefly  of  a 
practical  character,  have  appeared  among  our 
selves,  under  the  title  of  the  Hand  of  God  in 
History,  or,  more  briefly,  God  in  History,  —  one 
an  eloquent  discourse  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Cheever, 
with  special  reference  to  the  history  of  the 
United  States ;  another,  of  greater  extent  and 
detail,  by  the  Rev.  Hollis  Read.  The  object 
of  these  is  not,  by  a  philosophical  analysis, 
to  prove  the  presence  of  God  in  universal 
history,  but  rather,  by  a  citation  of  facts,  in 
connection  with  the  teachings  of  Scripture,  to 
indicate  his  providential  sway,  or  what  they 
fitly  designate  the  "  Hand  of  God  in  History." 
In  fact,  the  title  "  God  in  History,"  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  Read's  work,  is  an  after  thought,  less 
appropriate,  perhaps,  than  the  original  title ;  for 
his  sole  object,  as  stated  in  the  preface,  is  to  point 
out  "  the  providence  of  God  in  the  events  of  his 
tory."  This  he  discovers,  especially  in  striking 
junctures  or  turns  of  affairs,  sometimes  called 


PREFACE. 


"interpositions,"  rather  than  in  the  general 
movement  of  universal  history.  He  makes  no 
attempt  to  analyze  the  fundamental  forces  of  so 
ciety,  and  entirely  omits  the  consideration  of 
ancient  history.  His  work,  though  interesting 
and  profitable,  breathing  an  excellent  spirit,  and 
"  vindicating  the  ways  of  God  to  man,"  cannot 
be  said  to  be  an  adequate  exposition  of  "  God 
in  history." 

We  have  made  these  remarks  upon  the  litera 
ture  of  the  subject  to  which  the  following  work  in 
part  belongs,  in  order  to  assist  us  in  pointing  out 
its  object  and  aim.  And  here,  at  the  outset,  we 
beg  distinctly  to  say,  that  it  does  not  pretend  to 
be  a  philosophy  of  history,  or  to  be  strictly  a  philo 
sophical  or  scientific  work.  Its  form,  in  fact,  is 
rather  popular  than  philosophical,  though  based 
upon  fundamental  principles,  and  aiming  to  elu 
cidate  and  apply  essential  elements.  The  title 
"  Christ  in  History "  limits  its  character  to  an 
exposition  of  the  relations  of  Christ  (here  taken 
as  the  highest  expression  or  manifestation  of 
God)  to  universal  history. 

Hence  it  takes  the  Incarnation  as  the  central 
or  "  turning  point "  in  the  history  of  mankind, 
and  attempts  to  show  how  all  the  forces  of  soci 
ety  converge  around  it,  how  all  preceding  his 
tory  prepares  for  it,  how  all  succeeding  history 
dates  from  it.  In  order  to  develop  this  fact,  the 


PREFACE.  9 

reader  is  taken  back  to  central  facts  and  princi 
ples,  in  other  words  to  the  fountains  of  history 
in  the  nature  of  God,  and  the  nature  of  man ; 
and  the  attempt  is  made  to  show  that  the  history 
of  the  world,  ancient  and  modern,  can  be  under 
stood  only  with  reference  to  Christ.  This  is  not 
assumed  dogmatically,  but  evolved  by  an  expo 
sition  of  historical  facts. 

Many  things  which  would  naturally  be  dis 
cussed  in  a  complete  philosophy  of  history  are 
omitted.  Some  also  are  taken  for  granted,  as 
known  or  conceded  by  the  reader.  Indeed,  the 
attention  is  necessarily  limited  to  the  specific 
view  which  it  is  the  design  of  the  author  to 
vindicate. 

In  the  course  of  the  investigation,  Christianity 
is  shown  to  be  not  only  an  historical  reality,  but 
a  divine  and  supernatural  power,  by  which  all 
other  realities  and  powers  are  explained  and  eon- 
trolled.  The  theories  of  the  sceptical  rationalists, 
to  account  for  Christianity  on  natural,  local,  or 
superficial  grounds,  are  shown  to  be  untenable. 
The  natural  or  human  factor,  of  course,  is  not 
denied  ;  another,  however,  is  added,  namely,  the 
supernatural  or  divine.  In  a  word,  Christianity, 
in  its  interior  relations  and  vital  energies,  is 
shown  to  be  nothing  less  than  the  presence  of 
God,  through  Jesus  Christ,  among  men,  reno- 


10  PREFACE. 

vating  the  hearts  of  individuals,  and  preparing 
the  transformation  of  society. 

The  author  has  endeavored  to  conduct  the  in 
vestigation  in  the  freest  and  most  liberal  manner, 
holding  himself  aloof  as  much  as  possible  from 
unproved  preconceptions,  and  less  anxious,  there 
fore,  to  favor  or  deny  orthodoxy,  heterodoxy,  or 
what  Luther  calls  cacodoxy,  than  to  establish 
the  simple  truth. 

On  a  theme  so  vast  and  comprehensive,  his 
work  cannot  be  otherwise  than  imperfect.  No 
one  can  be  more  sensible  of  its  defects  than  him 
self.  Though  the  labor  of  years,  it  is  not  offered 
as  any  thing  approaching  a  complete  or  scientific 
view  of  the  subject,  but  rather  as  a  slight  contri 
bution,  or  preparation  for  such  a  view.  Perhaps 
he  might  venture  to  call  it  an  introduction  to 
universal  history,  or  at  least  an  introduction  to 
the  history  of  Christianity. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    THE  CENTRAL  TOWER,  .        .               ....  13 

II.    THE  CENTRAL  PRINCIPLE,  OR  CHRIST   IN  AN 
CIENT  RELIGION, 35 

III.  THE  SAME  SUBJECT   CONTINUED 61 

IV.  THE    CENTRAL  IDEA,  OR  CHRIST  IN  ANCIENT 

PHILOSOPHY, 83 

V.    THE  CENTRAL  RACE,  OR  CHRIST  AMONG  THE 

HEBREWS,       .                121 

VI.    THE  CENTRAL  RACE.  —  PRELUDES    AND  PREP 
ARATIONS,       158 

VII.    THE  FULNESS  OF  TIME,         ......  179 

VIII.    THE  ADVENT, 200 

IX.    THE  DISCIPLINE, 225 

X.    THE  INAUGURATION,  OR  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST,  252 

XL    THE  MYTHIC  THEORY, 270 

XII.    THE  TEACHING  OF  CHRIST, 289 

XIII.  THE  MIRACLES, 307 

XIV.  CHRIST  IN  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH,    .       .        .346 
XV.    THE  SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED,    ....  371 

XVI.    CHRIST  IN   THE  MIDDLE  AGES,        ....  398 

(11) 


12  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVII.    CHRIST  IN  THE  REFORMATION,       ....    428 
XVIII.    CHRIST  IN  MODERN  SOCIETY,         .       .       .       .473 


APPENDIX. 
ADDITIONAL  NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS, 


CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE    CENTRAL  POWER. 

THE  farther  science  advances,  the  more  clearly 
is  the  great  fact  discovered  that  all  things  have 
their  centres  of  life  and  motion,  and  that  they 
belong  to  a  single  system.  Acting  and  interact 
ing,  moving,  now  this  way,  now  that,  all  at 
last  tend  one  way.  The  stars  revolve  around 
their  suns,  and  suns  themselves,  with  attendant 
planets,  revolve  around  a  central  orb.  Unity 
and  variety,  as  in  a  circle,  with  its  starlike  radii, 
the  unity  ever  passing  into  variety,  and  the 
variety  into  unity,  pervade  the  visible  creation. 
Nothing  is  insulated,  nothing  irregular.  One 
mysterious  law  comprehends  and  governs  the 
whole.  All  proceed  from,  and  gravitate  to,  one 
centre. 

Not  only  the  larger  masses,  suns,  and  constel 
lations,  gravitate  thus,  but  the  inferior  parts,  the 


14  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

minutest  atoms,  fibres,  and  crystals.  All  plants 
and  animals  are  organized  around  their  centres. 
By  accretion,  growth,  and  assimilation,  they 
form  themselves,  according  to  a  fixed  law,  from 
interior  forces.  The  rose  unfolds  itself  with  pet 
als  and  leaves,  from  a  vital  root.  The  dew  is 
globed  by  the  force  of  gravitation.  The  bubble 
which  floats  in  the  sunbeam,  the  joy  of  child 
hood,  obeys  the  same  invisible  power.  It  is 
sphered  like  a  star,  and  carries  upon  its  bosom 
all  the  splendors  of  the  rainbow.  A  particle  of 
sand,  the  sport  of  every  breeze,  is  formed  on  the 
strictest  mathematical  principles.  Scrutinized, 
it  will  be  found  piled  up  in  fair  proportions,  like 
a  huge  crystal,  with  its  lines,  sides,  and  angles. 
The  down  upon  an  insect's  wing,  scarce  visible 
to  the  naked  eye,  grows  like  a  forest  of  palms. 
All  nature  is  vital  and  moving,  even  when  it 
seems  to  be  still  as  the  grave.  Plants  and  ani 
mals  have  a  sort  of  double  life,  a  life  in  common 
with  the  rest,  and  a  life  in  themselves,  and  all 
therefore  tend  in  one  direction.  Their  move 
ment  is  ever  from,  and  to,  centres  of  action  and 
development.  The  human  body  grows  like  a 
germ,  is  fed  and  developed  from  an  interior  force. 
It  has  its  own  centre,  to  which  it  gravitates,  while 
gravitating  with  all  other  things,  earth,  sun,  and 
stars,  around  a  common  centre. 

Society  also,  in  order  to  live  and  prosper,  must 


THE    CENTRAL    POWER.  15 

have  an  appropriate  centre.  It  gravitates  around 
some  vital  force,  being,  or  principle,  which  con 
stitutes  its  life.  Men  may  seem  to  be  insulated 
as  individuals,  but  they  grow  together;  and  not 
only  so,  but  they  intergrow.  They  are  many, 
yet  they  are  one,  like  the  myriad  globules  of 
water  that  form  the  rushing  stream.  No  two 
are  alike,  yet  all  are  alike.  They  move  appar 
ently  in  diverse  orbits,  and  yet  they  move  to 
gether  in  a  common  orbit.  One  spiritual,  all- 
pervading  force,  or  aggregate  of  forces,  impels 
them  in  the  same  direction. 

Hence  they  rise  or  fall  together,  move  in 
peaceful  order  within  the  great  sphere  of  duty, 
or  dash  tumultuously  into  the  abyss.  Strange 
varieties  of  costume,  color,  form,  language,  no 
tions,  prevail  among  the  nations,  yet  "  their 
hearts  are  fashioned  alike."  Their  blood  is  the 
same ;  their  reason  and  their  affection,  their  hope 
and  their  fear,  their  origin  and  their  end,  are  the 
same.  Free  indeed,  and  thence  capable,  within 
certain  limits,  of  virtue  or  of  vice,  of  holiness 
or  of  sin,  of  religion  or  of  atheism,  they  diverge 
in  their  choice  and  destiny  as  individuals ;  yet 
they  are  formed  on  the  same  model,  obey  the 
same  impulses,  may  share  the  same  destiny. 

Those  who  have  read  history  with  any  atten 
tion  know  that  society  is  always  organized,  if 
organized  with  any  degree  of  permanence,  around 


16  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

some  divine  idea  or  force.  No  society  can  be 
kept  together  without  religion  ;  and  for  the  sim 
ple  reason  that  man,  imperfect,  —  nay,  more, 
fallen, —  has  his  origin  and  his  end  in  God.  The 
Deity,  in  other  words,  the  true,  the  good,  the  holy, 
—  what  we  fitly  term  "  the  divine,"  —  is  our  cen 
tre  and  life.  We  gravitate  harmoniously  only 
around  this  eternal  force,  at  once  centripetal  and 
centrifugal,  attracting  us  to  a  centre,  and  at  the 
same  time  propelling  us  in  beautiful  order  around 
the  orbit  of  duty. 

This  characteristic  of  man,  like  the  cerulean 
color  of  the  ocean  or  atmosphere,  may  not  in 
deed  be  visible  in  detached  fragments,  but  is 
always  obvious  enough  in  the  whole.  Morally, 
as  well  as  naturally,  the  finite  lies  in  the  infinite. 
God  and  man  are  bound  together  by  mysteri 
ous  ties. 

For  the  same  reason,  each  individual  soul  has 
its  proper  centre.  As  a  divine  product,  a  child 
of  the  infinite  Spirit,  it  belongs  to  God,  and 
finds  its  felicity  in  him.  No  matter  if  morally 
severed,  by  disturbing  causes,  from  its  absolute 
Source,  the  principle  or  fact  remains  the  same. 
The  sun  and  its  star,  the  centre  and  its  radius, 
wherever  they  may  be,  are  made  for  each  other. 
Drawn  oft'  into  "  the  abysmal  dark  "  by  the  de 
structive  influence  of  sin,  the  soul  wretchedly 
wanders  in  the  void,  seeking  rest  and  finding 


THE    CENTRAL    FOWER.  17 

none.  If  not  restored  to  its  source,  it  must 
finally  perish.  To  be  pure,  peaceful,  happy, 
each  of  us  must  find  God,  and  in  God  attain 
the  true  and  the  holy ;  and  thus  drinking  the 
beams  of  the  eternal  Sun,  revolve  around  him 
in  glory  and  in  joy  forever. 

Thus,  in  all  ages,  we  find  lofty  souls,  even  in 
darkness  and  sorrow,  "  feeling  after  God." 
Thales,  Pythagoras,  Socrates,  Plato,  Cicero, 
Plutarch  catch  a  glimpse  of  his  glory,  and  pro 
claim,  with  exultation,  the  stupendous  thought. 
Somewhat  bewildered,  and  with  only  partial 
views,  they  yet  reach  towards  the  Divine  as 
their  centre  and  their  end.  Nay,  the  poor  Afri 
can,  in  a  deeper  night,  feels  the  mighty  fasci 
nation,  without  knowing  what  it  is.  Said  Se- 
kesa,  a  native  of  Southern  Africa,  of  the  Bechu- 
ana  tribe,  to  a  missionary  from  whom  he  had 
been  hearing  of  God  and  immortality,  "  Your 
views,  O  white  man,  are  just  what  I  wanted 
and  sought  for  before  I  knew  you.  Twelve 
years  ago,  I  went,  in  a  cloudy  season,  to  feed 
my  flock  along  the  Tlotse,  among  the  Malutis. 
Seated  upon  a  rock  in  sight  of  my  sheep,  I 
asked  myself  sad  questions  ;  yes,  sad,  because  I 
could  not  answer  them.  The  stars,  said  I,  who 
touched  them  with  his  hand  ?  On  what  pillars 
do  they  rest  ?  The  waters  are  not  weary  ;  they 
run  without  ceasing  at  night  and  morning  alike ; 
2* 


18  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

but  where  do  they  stop,  or  who  makes  them  run 
thus?  The  clouds  also  go,  return,  and  fall  in 
water  to  the  earth.  Whence  do  they  arise  ? 
Who  sends  them  ?  It  surely  is  not  the  Barokas 
(rain  makers)  who  give  us  the  rain,  for  how 
could  they  make  it?  The  wind  —  what  is  it? 
Who  brings  it  or  takes  it  away  ?  makes  it  blow, 
and  roar,  and  frighten  us  ?  Do  I  know  how  the 
corn  grows  ?  Yesterday  there  was  not  a  blade 
to  be  seen  in  my  field.  To-day  I  return  and 
find  something.  It  is  very  small ;  I  can  scarcely 
see  it ;  but  it  will  grow  up  like  a  young  man. 
Who  can  have  given  the  ground  wisdom  and 
power  to  produce  it  ?  Then  I  buried  my  head 
in  my  hands. 

"  Again  I  thought  within  myself,  and  I  said, 
We  all  depart,  but  this  country  remains;  it 
alone  remains,  for  we  all  go  away.  But  whither 
do  we  go  ?  My  heart  answered,  Perhaps  other 
men  live  besides  us,  and  we  shall  go  to  them. 
But  another  thought  arose  against  it,  and  said, 
Those  men  under  the  earth,  whence  come  they  ? 
Then  my  heart  did  not  know  what  more  to 
think.  It  wondered.  Then  my  heart  rose  and 
spoke  to  me,  saying,  All  men  do  much  evil,  and 
thou,  thou  also  hast  done  much  evil.  Woe  to 
thee !  I  recalled  many  wrongs  which  I  had 
done,  and  because  of  this  my  conscience  gnawed 
me  in  secret,  as  I  sat  alone  on  the  rock.  I  say 


TIT;;  CENTRAL  POWER.  19 

I  was  afraid.  I  got  up  and  ran  after  my  sheep, 
trying  to  enliven  myself,  but  I  trembled  much." 

Mofl'at  informs  us  that  some  of  the  tribes  of 
Africa  are  so  degraded  as,  apparently,  to  have 
no  idea  of  a  supreme  power ;  but  this  is  the 
exception,  not  the  rule.*  As  intelligence  and 
civilization  advance,  the  idea  of  "  the  Divine  " 
becomes,  in  all  countries,  more  distinct  and  lu 
minous.  It  rises  with  science  and  virtue,  appro 
priates  to  itself  all  beautiful  forms,  and  "sits 
enthroned  on  the  riches  of  the  universe." 

It  is  owing  to  the  depth  and  permanence  of 
this  original  instinct  or  intuition,  blind  as  it 
occasionally  seems,  and  much  .perverted  by  ig- 

*  Further  investigations  show  decisively  that  the  exception 
scarcely  exists,  even  among  the  most  superstitious  tribes  of  Af 
rica  ;  the  word  Morimo,  which  means  the  Supreme  Spirit,  is  found 
as  a  relic  of  some  better  knowledge  now  lost.  Mr.  Livingston  says 
that  the  recently-discovered  tribes  in  the  interior  of  Africa  have 
an  idea  of  a  supreme  God.  This  is  corroborated  by  Mr.  Bowen, 
who  says  the  people  in  Yarouba  believe  in  one  God,  though  the 
national  worship  is  directed  to  inferior  deities,  both  benign  and 
malignant.  They  speak  of  him  as  "  over  all,"  and  call  him  "  the 
Owner  of  heaven."  Their  language  contains  those  terms  which 
enable  the  missionary  to  speak  to  them  intelligently  of  the  Deity, 
of  sin,  guilt,  moral  obligation,  &c.  Some  of  their  traditions 
would  indicate  an  Oriental  origin.  Every  where  the  ark  is  an 
object  of  reverence.  Mr.  Tanner,  a  half-breed  Indian  mission 
ary,  well  acquainted  with  the  Indians,  says  that  those  tribes  who 
have  been  secluded  from  intercourse  with  the  whites  have  a  dis 
tinct  idea  of  a  supreme  Spirit.  They  worship  other  spirits,  but 
especially  venerate  the  Great  Spirit,  and  recognize  the  eternal 
distinction  of  right  and  wrong,  with  the  doctrine  of  reward  and  pun 
ishment.  This  is  corroborated  by  Mr.  Catlin  and  Mr.  Schoolcraft 


20  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

norance  arid  lust,  that  the  race,  as  such,  espe 
cially  in  its  more  active  centres,  has  always 
occupied  itself  with  the  problem  of  God,  or  the 
gods,  those  supreme  and  eternal  powers  sup 
posed  to  preside  over  the  universe,  and  has 
always  organized  itself,  as  we  have  said,  around 
some  fundamental  belief  in  reference  to  duty 
and  destiny.  Thus  Plato  over  and  over  again 
affirms  that  a  belief  in  God,  or  the  gods,  is  a 
natural  and  universal  instinct.*  "  Examine," 
says  Plutarch,  in  his  tract  against  Coletes,  the 
Epicurean,  "  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  you  may 
find  cities  unfortified,  unlettered,  without  a  reg 
ular  magistrate  or  distinct  habitations,  without 
possessions,  property,  or  the  use  of  money,  and 
unskilled  in  all  the  magnificent  and  polished 
arts  of  life  ;  but  a  city  without  the  knowledge 
of  God  or  religion,  without  the  use  of  vows, 
oaths,  oracles,  and  sacrifices  to  procure  good,  or 
of  deprecatory  rites  to  avert  evil,  no  man  can  or 
ever  will  find."  So  also  in  his  Consolatio  ad 
Apollonium,  he  declares,  "  it  was  so  ancient  an 
opinion  that  good  men  should  be  recompensed 

*  See  especially  Do  Lcgibus,  (lib.  x.,)  Contra  Athcos.  Plato,  in 
deed,  sees  clearly  enough  that  the  instinct  referred  to  is  often  feeble, 
as  well  as  subject  to  great  perversion.  In  himself,  it  was  not  entirely 
free  from  superstition ;  yet  Avho,  with  the  slightest  knowledge  of 
his  works,  will  deny  the  strength  and  grandeur  with  which  it  de 
veloped  itself  in  his  sublime  speculations  on  the  true,  the  beau 
tiful,  and  the  good,  as  eternal  entities  in  the  bosom  of  God  ? 


THE    CENTRAL    POWER.  21 

at  death,  that  he  could  not  reach  either  the 
author  or  the  origin  of  it."  In  his  Tusculan 
Questions,  Cicero  bears  the  same  testimony. 
"  As  our  innate  ideas,"  he  says,  "  discover  to  us 
that  there  are  gods,  [or  a  God;  for  Cicero  often 
uses  the  term  gods,  when  he  means  simply 
God,]  whose  attributes  we  deduce  from  reason, 
so,  from  the  consent  of  all  nations  and  people, 
we  conclude  that  the  soul  is  immortal."  In 
another  place,  he  affirms  that  this,  as  well  as 
the  sense  of  justice,  must  be  "  a  law  of  nature."  4 
Errors  and  superstitions  of  course  mingled 
with  ancient  myths  and  traditions ;  but  they 
were  based  upon  an  original  intuition,  if  not  an 
original  revelation.  In  corroboration  of  this  view 
we  find  Aristotle  averring  that  "it  was  an  ancient 
saying,  received  by  all  from  their  ancestors,  that 
all  things  exist  by  and  through  the  power  of 
God,  .  .  .  who,  being  one,  (el;,)  was  known 
by  many  names,  according  to  his  modes  of  man 
ifestation" —  a  testimony  as  striking  as  it  is  pro- 
found.f 

*  Tus.  Disp.  i.  30.  "  Omnis  autem  in  re  consensio  omnium  gen 
tium  lex  natural  putanda  est."  Compare  De  Natura  Deorum,  i.  43, 
as  also  lib.  ii.  12.  Cicero,  being  an  Academic,  often  presents  his 
opinions  in  the  form  of  doubts ;  but  his  real  sentiments  were  un 
questionably  favorable  to  the  doctrine  of  God  and  the  immortal 
ity  of  the  soul.  How  striking,  for  example,  is  the  following : 
"  Esse  procstantem  aliquam  acternamque  naturam,  et  earn  sus- 
piciendam  admirandamque  hominum  generi,  pulchritudo  mundi 
ordoque  rerum  ccclestium  cogit  confiteri."  —  De  Divin.  lib.  ii. 

f  Sec  De  Mundo,  c.  f>,  7.     A.  similar  passage  is  referred  to  by  No 


22  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

It  need  not  surprise  us,  then,  that  the  great 
thinkers  of  the  race,  those  who  have  gone  be 
neath  appearances  to  grasp  the  reality  of  things, 
have  always  tended  to  a  common  centre  of  spec 
ulative  thought.  The  absolute  and  eternal  has 
always  swept  them  within  its  mystic  circle.  God, 
the  soul,  and  immortality ;  the  eternal  past,  the 
eternal  future,  tyf.  the  all-embracing  essence  in 
which  they  become  one,  are  the  majestic  themes 
which  have  occupied  their  lives.  The  old  Chal 
dean,  Hindoo,  and  Egyptian  sages,  the  Pythago 
reans,  the  Sophists,  the  Socratists,  Plato  and 
Aristotle,  the  Academics,  the  Stoics,  the  Neo- 
Platonists,  in  fact  every  class  of  Grecian  think 
ers,  as  also  the  Roman  philosophers,  though 
much  inferior  to  the  Grecian  in  vigor  and  com 
prehensiveness  of  mind,  took  a  more  or  less  dis 
tinguished  part  in  the  discussion  of  these  subjects. 
Among  the  questions  which  the  ancients  consid 
ered  as  lying  at  the  foundation  of  all  science 
and  philosophical  reasoning  were  the  following : 
1.  Whether  there  was  a  creative  power  in  the 
universe ;  2.  Whether  this  power  was  invested 
with  the  attributes  of  wisdom,  goodness,  and 
truth ;  3.  Whether  the  mind  of  man  formed  a 


ander,  as  quoted  by  Plutarch,  (Dc  Defectu  Oraciilorum,}  from  the 
Antigone  of  Sophocles  ;  but  we  have  been  unable  to  verify  it  in  the 
Antigone  as  now  extant.  Compare  Plutarch,  Advcr.  Stoicos,  c.  22. 
Cicero,  DC  Lcyibm,  lib.  ii.  107. 


THE    CENTRAL    POWER.  23 

part,  or  was  made  analogous  to  the  divine  mind, 
or  principle  ;  4.  Whether  this  intellectual  part 
of  man  was  of  an  absolutely  spiritual  nature,  and 
was  endowed  with  immortality ;  5.  Whether  there 
is  any  thing  absolutely  true  or  absolutely  good 
in  the  nature  of  things ;  6.  Whether  the  true 
and  the  good  relative  to  man  be  the  same  in  the 
essence  as  the  true  and  the  good  relative  to  the 
divine  nature  ;  7.  Whether  man  was  an  object 
of  care  or  interest  in  the  divine  economy,  and 
whether  he  had  any  means  of  ascertaining  the 
fact.  8.  Whether  we  have  any  definite  meaning 
in  the  mind  when  we  make  use  of  such  words  as 
justice,  power,  existence,  intelligence,  benevolence, 
virtue,  vice,  &c.* 

Their  methods  of  reasoning,  somewhat  vari 
able,  may  be  deemed"  fallacious  ;  but  the  fact 
remains  that,  even  in  their  logical  and  philo 
sophical  investigations,  these  were  the  great 
questions  from  which  they  started,  and  to  which 
they  constantly  returned.  A  few  philosophers, 
subtle  and  penetrating,  but  cold  and  sterile,  like 
Epicurus  and  Cornte,  have  lingered  in  mere 
mechanism,  never  transcending  the  outward  and 
perishable.  Others,  like  Aristotle  and  Hegel, 
have  lost  themselves  in  abstractions,  even  while 
recognizing  absolute  and  eternal  being  ;  and 

*  Blakey's  History  of  Logic,  pp.  G6,  70.    Sco  Rittcr's  Hist,  of 
Ancient  Ph.,  passim.    Compare  Aristotle's  Mctuphysica. 


24  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

others,  like  Pyrrho  and  Lucretius,  driven  by 
doubt,  arising  from  their  limited  natures,  or 
the  disturbing  influence  of  a  chaotic  era,  have 
plunged  into  the  horrible  abyss  of  atheism.  But 
the  majority  of  profound  thinkers,  and  still  more 
of  great  actors,  in  all  ages,  have  recognized,  with 
more  or  less  fulness,  the  supremacy  of  spirit,  the 
government  of  God,  and  the  immortality  of  the 
soul. 

Nay,  sometimes  in  the  deepest  labyrinth  of  er 
ror,  whole  communities  have  longed  after  God. 
Groping  in  the  dark  amid  the  monuments  of  an 
cient  superstition,  or  the  deeper  gloom  of  a  false 
philosophy,  they  have  stretched  themselves  to 
wards  the  divine,  like  confined  flowers,  instinc 
tively  seeking  the  sun.  In  Athens,  with  its  thirty 
thousand  gods,  we  find  an  altar,  if  not  several  al 
tars,  to  "  the  unknown  God."  The  symbol  wor 
ship  of  ancient  Assyria,  with  its  vast  and  shadowy 
forms,  the  mystic  faith  of  Egypt,  based  upon  some 
vague  but  sublime  idea  of  the  unity  of  God  and 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  although  cold  and 
massive  as  its  stony  images,  and  especially  the 
gorgeous  pantheism  of  India,  at  once  monstrous 
and  impressive,  were  shadows  of  the  sublime 
reality.  Zerdusht  and  Menu,  as  well  as  Py 
thagoras  and  Plato,  penetrated  beyond  exfernal 
forms,  and  saw  quivering  beneath  them  those 
eternal  energies  which  they  referred  to  being  and 
thought. 


THE    CENTRAL    POWER.  25 

This  accounts  for  the  supposition  of  a  golden 
age,  that  era  of  religion  simple  and  sincere.  Then 
the  Divinity  walked  among  men,  and  all  nature 
was  glorified  with  his  presence.  Miracle  was  law, 
and  law  was  miracle  ;  for  all  was  wonder  and 
worship.  Harmony  and  joy  pervaded  the  earth, 
bathed,  so  to  speak,  in  celestial  sunlight.  Re 
fracted,  indeed,  through  mythic  and  legendary 
mists,  after  all  "  'twas  light  from  heaven."  Its 
origin  was  supernatural  and  divine.  The  first 
Eden,  or  the  reign  of  God  upon  earth,  alone  can 
account  for  it. 

Of  some  such  age  or  state  all  the  ancient  na 
tions  have  traditions  more  or  less  perfect.*  It 
gleams  as  a  dim  remembrance  in  all  their  poetry, 
philosophy,  and  history.  In  some  cases  it  may 
be  accounted  for  by  the  natural  desire  of  all  na 
tions  to  glorify  their  origin  and  ancestry  ;  but  this 
will  not  account  for  it  in  all,  and  especially  for 
the  peculiar  traditional  form  in  which  it  often 

*  The  Egyptian,  Babylonian,  and  Persian  mythologies  recog 
nize  it  with  great  distinctness,  and  describe  the  change  which  en 
sued  as  "  a  fall  from  glory."  In  the  Vishnu  Purana  of  the  Hin 
doo  tradition,  we  have  the  following  :  "  The  beings  who  were  cre 
ated  by  Brahma  were  at  first  endowed  with  righteousness  and  per 
fect  faith ;  they  dwelt  wherever  they  pleased,  unchecked  by  any 
impediment.  Their  hearts  were  free  from  guile.  They  were  pure, 
and  made  free  from  soil  by  the  observance  of  sacred  institutes.  In 
their  holy  minds  Hari  dwelt,  and  they  were  filled  with  perfect  wis 
dom,  wherewith  they  contemplated  the  glory  of  Vishnu."  See  a 
quotation  from  Pausanias  in  Neander's  Church  Hist.  V'  1.  i.  p. 
12 ;  as  also  various  references  in  Knapp's  Theology,  p.  I  )S. 

3 


26  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

appears.  It  obviously  supposes  the  existence  of 
some  higher  civilization,  lost  in  the  dim  shadows 
of  the  past,  and  not  only  so,  but  of  a  purer  form 
of  religion,  or  at  least  a  deeper  sense  of  its  divine 
beauty  and  power. 

The  earlier  and  stronger  communities,  those 
even  which  lapsed  into  symbol  worship,  Egypt, 
Assyria,  Persia,  India,  Greece,  Etruria,  and  Rome 
itself,  in  the  palmy  days  of  the  republic,  as 
Strabo  and  Polybius  distinctly  testify,  had  a 
strong  and  all-pervading  faith.*  The  Hebrew 
commonwealth  was  made  prosperous  and  per 
manent  only  as  a  theocracy,  or  divine  republic. 
When  it  ceased  to  be  religious,  it  fell  into  imbe 
cility,  and  became  a  reproach  among  the  nations. 
The  great  and  good  men  of  all  times,  around 
whom  society  has  clustered,  the  kingly  spirits  of 
history,  martyrs  and  patriots  of  by-gone  days,  all 
have  been  distinguished  for  their  piety.  The 
founders  of  states,  the  reformers  of  laws  and  man 
ners,  Moses,  Menu,  Zoroaster,  Solon,  Constan 
tino,  Mohammed,  Charlemagne,  Alfred,  Wash 
ington,  derived  their  greatest  force  from  the  reli 
gious  element.  "  God  and  the  right "  has  been  the 
battle  cry  of  civilization  throughout  the  world. 

*  Some  may  call  it,  and  perhaps  justly,  a  superstition;  but  tins 
itself  must  have  originated  in  the  religious  instinct.  The  univer 
sality  of  superstition  is  a  natural  mystery,  -which  cannot  be  account 
ed  for,  except  by  reference  to  the  spiritual  and  immortal  nature  of 


THE    CENTRAL    POWER.  27 

Tyranny,  indeed,  knowing  the  immense  power 
of  this  element,  has  often  abused  it ;  but  what 
noble  and  generous  thing  has  not  tyranny  abused  ? 
The  diamond  is  a  diamond  still,  though  gleam 
ing  on  the  brow  of  pride.  No  abuse  can  deprive 
religion  of  its  original  beauty,  its  inherent  and 
eternal  power. 

Hence,  not  only  in  ancient,  but  in  modern 
times,  we  find  ample  recognition  of  the  indestruc 
tible  religious  tendency  of  the  race.  "  Whether 
true  or  false,  sublime  or  ridiculous,"  says  M. 
Thiers,  "  man  must  have  a  religion."  The  his 
torian  of  the  Consulate  and  Empire,  quick,  ver 
satile,  and  well  informed,  but  not  profound  or 
philosophical,  is  far  from  seeing  the  reason  of  this 
great  fact ;  but  his  testimony  is  none  the  less  val 
uable.  It  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the  deepest  se 
cret  of  human  nature. 

Most  instructive,  as  bearing  upon  this  matter,  is 
the  history  of  Benjamin  Constant,*  who,  seduced 
by  the  superficial  materialism  of  Voltaire  and  the 
Encyclopaedists,  at  first  denied  the  reality  and 
validity  of  the  religious  sentiment,  and  conse 
quently  the  existence  and  moral  government  of 

*  Born  at  Lausanne,  in  1767.  Ho  was  educated  in  Germany,  and 
became  one  of  the  greatest  authors  and  most  able  orators  of  the 
liberals,  or  constitutionalists,  in  the  French  Chamber  of  Deputies. 
His  great  work  on  religion  (De  la  Religion,  considcrce  dans  sa 
Source,  ses  Formes,  ct  scs  Devdoppements)  was  published  in  Paris 
in  1821. 


28  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

God.  Of  noble  and  generous  impulses,  and  long 
ing  for  the  emancipation  of  his  own  mind  and 
that  of  his  countrymen  from  the  bondage  of  er 
ror,  he  embraced,  with  eagerness,  those  views  of 
nature  and  society  which  promised  this  result. 
The  dominant  faith  of  continental  Europe,  asso 
ciated  with  tyranny  and  superstition,  seemed  the 
greatest  obstacle  to  its  realization,  and  he  sym 
pathized  with  the  powerful  attacks  made  upon  re 
ligion  by  some  of  the  most  brilliant  writers  of  his 
time.  His  mind  was  too  noble  and  aspiring  to 
bear  the  burden  of  doubt.  He  longed  for  cer 
tainty  and  freedom.  He  was  compelled,  there 
fore,  to  undertake  a  patient  and  thorough  exam 
ination  of  the  whole  subject.  His  great  work  on 
religion,  however,  was  commenced  with  a  far 
different  aim  from  that  which  he  actually  reached. 
He  intended  it,  at  first,  as  a  contribution  to  the 
cause  of  infidelity.  He  supposed  that  he  could 
show,  by  an  appeal  to  history,  that  the  religious 
sentiment  in  man  was  always  the  product  of  a 
delusive  superstition,  and  that  in  all  its  forms  it 
was  destructive  to  the  best  interests,  and  espe 
cially  to  the  progress,  of  society.  But  one  after 
another  his  prepossessions  vanished.  As  his  in 
vestigations  advanced,  he  found  that  religion  was 
a  universal  and  indestructible  principle  in  the 
nature  of  man.  Thence  his  inquiries  took  an 
entirely  different  direction,  and  the  issue  was,  the 


THE    CENTRAL    POWER.  29 

production  of  a  work  which  may  be  regarded  as 
one  of  the  most  striking  testimonies  to  the  valid 
ity  and  worth  of  religion.  "  My  work,"  says  he, 
in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  "  is  a  singular  proof  of 
the  remark  of  Bacon,  that  a  little  philosophy  leads 
a  man  to  atheism,  but  a  great  deal  to  religion. 
It  is  positively  in  the  profound  investigation  of 
facts,  in  my  researches  in  every  quarter,  and  in 
struggling  with  the  difficulties  without  number 
which  they  bring  against  incredulity,  that  I  have 
found  myself  forced  to  return  to  religious  ideas. 
I  have  done  this  most  certainly  in  perfectly  good 
faith ;  for  I  have  not  taken  a  single  retrograde 
step  without  cost.  Even  to  this  moment  all  my 
habits,  all  my  remembrances,  are  on  the  side  of 
the  sceptical  philosophy  ;  and  I  defend,  post  after 
post,  every  spot  of  ground  which  religion  gains 
from  me."  * 

Constant  shows,  by  an  analysis  of  the  nature 
and  susceptibilities  of  man,  compared  with  the 
facts  of  history,  that  he  is  a  spiritual  being,  and 
has  affinities  and  relations  with  infinite  perfec 
tion  and  immortal  existence ;  that,  although 
many  things  check  and  oppose  this  tendency  in 
the  race,  it  lives  and  grows,  ever  longing  for  its 
object,  ever  attempting  its  realization.  He  finds 
the  highest  development  of  this  principle  in  the 

*  Specimens  of  Foreign  Literature,  by  George  Ripley,  vol.  ii. 
p.  273. 

3* 


;30  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

theism  of  the  Jewish  faith,  so  far  transcending 
the  people  and  age  in  which  it  is  found,  and 
especially  in  Christianity,  which  "  brings  life 
and  immortality  to  light."  Kant's  Kritik  of  the 
Pfei  Reason,  (Der  Praktischen  Vernunft,)  after 
the  strictest  analysis  of  the  moral  wants  and 
tendencies  of  the  human  soul,  comes  to  precisely 
the  same  result.  Comte  himself  has  recently 
avowed  the  necessity  of  religion,  and  has  given 
an  exposition  of  his  views  upon  this  subject,  in 
his  "  positive  theory  of  human  unity."  * 

Indeed,  it  must  be  obvious  to  every  candid 
thinker  that  the  welfare  of  the  individual  as  well 
as  the  welfare  of  society  depends  upon  the  depth 
and  purity  of  their  religious  convictions.  "  The 
first  principle,"  says  Lord  Bacon,  touching,  in 
his  brief,  expressive  way,  the  very  core  of  the 
matter,  "  of  right  reason  is  religion."  f  On  this 
rests,  as  its  lowest  foundation,  the  entire  super- 

*  Developed  in  the  second  volume  of  his  "  Systcme  de  Politique 
Positive." 

f  The  -whole  passage  in  which  this  occurs  is  well  worth  atten 
tion.  "  I  had  rather  believe  all  the  fables  in  the  Talmud  and  the 
Alcoran  than  that  this  universal  frame  is  without  a  mind.  God 
never  wrought  a  miracle  to  convert  an  atheist,  because  his  ordinary 
works  confute  atheism.  A  little  philosophy  may  incline  men  to  in 
fidelity  ;  but  a  further  proceeding  therein  brings  them  back  to  reli 
gion.  For  when  the  mind  looks  on  second  causes  scattered,  it 
sometimes  rests  in  them ;  but  when  it  beholds  them  confederated 
and  linked  together,  it  must  needs  fly  to  Providence  and  to  Deity. 
After  all  my  studies  and  inquiries,  I  dare  not  die  with  any  other 
thoughts  than  those  of  the  Christian  religion." 


TIi::    CENTRAL    POWER.  31 

structure  of  the  social  state.  Without  it,  man 
is  nothing  —  society  nothing.  Destroy  religion, 
and  our  very  nature 

"  Sinks  under  us,  bcstorms,  and  then  devours." 

The  fact  is,  a  community  of  atheists  cannot 
exist.  Infidelity  is  essentially  disorganizing.  It 
uniformly  breaks  up  society,  and  rushes  to  ruin. 
France,  indeed,  once  proclaimed  herself  atheistic, 
but  it  was  in  the  rnidst  of  a  revolution  the  most 
appalling  and  bloody.  The  delusion  lasted  only 
the  briefest  space.  Reaction  was  instant  and 
decisive.  Atheism,  we  grant,  yet  lingers  in  that 
beautiful  country,  but  only  as  an  individual 
opinion.  Besides,  that  it  is  an  element  of  dis 
organization,  even  in  this  form,  must  be  obvious 
to  the  most  superficial  observer.  If  France  ever 
falls,  as  fell  the  old  dynasties  of  the  world,  it 
will  fall  through  scepticism  and  lust. 

Of  course,  religion,  like  all  other  things, — 
science,  morals,  literature,  social  life,  govern 
ment,  &c.,  —  will  represent  the  nature  of  those 
who  profess  it.  As  men  are  imperfect  beings, 
in  most  cases  ignorant,  —  nay,  more,  positively 
sinful,  —  having  suffered  some  fatal  lapse,  their 
religion  will  rarely,  if  ever,  rise  to  any  thing  like 
perfection.  Their  creeds  will  often  be  crude, 
visionary,  superstitious ;  nay,  sometimes  pos 
itively  degrading.  For  the  well-known  adage 


32  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

of  Horace  is  universally  true,  that  the  best 
things  abused  always  become  the  worst.  Li 
able  to  error  and  passion,  our  religion,  perverted, 
sometimes  proves  the  direst  curse.  Hence,  in 
the  matter  of  piety  and  morals,  we  find,  among 
men,  strange  action  and  reaction.  For  now,  by 
the  force  of  what  may  be  called  their  better 
nature,  they  are  attracted  to  God,  and  anon,  by 
the  force  of  their  evil  nature,  repelled  from  him. 
They  vibrate,  like  a  pendulum,  between  holi 
ness  and  sin,  vice  and  virtue.  After  all,  God  is 
their  portion,  perfection  their  true  and  eternal 
destiny. 

Hence  superstition  is  the  symptom  of  a  deeper 
want.  It  is  the  hunger  of  the  soul  feeding  upon 
husks,  the  thirst  of  the  spirit  drinking  poison. 
In  its  wildest  vagaries,  even  idolatry  is  the  shadow 
of  diviner  worship.  That  young  Hindoo  mother, 
who  has  thrown  her  first  born  into  the  Ganges, 
has  all  the  affection  of  a  mother,  and  her  heart, 
torn  with  anguish,  goes  after  her  little  one  sink 
ing  in  the  waves;  but  she  has  made  the  sacrifice 
(in  her  view,  sublime)  of  that  dearest  treasure, 
for  the  salvation  of  her  soul.  Nations  set  up  a 
Moloch  or  a  Juggernaut,  not  because  they  love 
cruelty  for  its  own  sake,  but  because  a  blind,  but 
irresistible  instinct  impels  them  to  seek  some  re 
lief  to  the  terrible  famine  of  the  spirit. 

The  fact  is  obvious,  that  in  all  ages  religion, 


THE    CENTRAL    POWER.  33 

in  some  form,  has  been  the  central  force  of 
society,  the  keystone  of  states  and  empires  ;  and 
for  this  simple  reason,  that,  being  divine,  it  is  the 
only  thing  which  controls  the  inner  life.  It  is  the 
law  which  a  community  carries,  not  in  its  gov 
ernment  archives,  but  in  its  heart.  It  requires  no 
magistrate  to  pronounce  sentence,  no  police  to 
seize,  no  executioner  to  punish.  Its  domain  is 
invisible  and  all  comprehending,  like  the  magnetic 
forces  which  pervade  universal  nature. 

A  true  history  of  the  world,  then,  especially  of 
its  civilization,  its  progress  or  decay,  would  be  a 
history  of  religion  in  its  relations  to  society.  This 
every  where  is  the  pervading  and  abiding  power. 
This  marks  the  degree  of  elevation  or  depression 
in  all.  As  this  rises  so  rises  society  in  prosperity 
and  strength.  As  this  falls,  so  falls  society  into 
barbarism  and  decay.  Corrupted,  abused,  de 
based,  like  government,  law,  organization,  free 
dom,  every  thing,  in  a  word,  which  has  power,  it 
is  a  reality  the  most  sublime,  a  good  the  highest 
and  deepest  of  all. 

It  is  on  this  ground  we  maintain  that  God,  in 
some  manifested  form,  or  an  organized  belief,  and 
especially  in  Jesus  Christ  and  Christianity,  to 
which  Judaism  is  an  introduction,  is  the  centre 
of  all  history,  past,  present,  and  to  come.  So  that 
those  who  would  know  Christ  must  know  history, 


34  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

and  those  who  would  know  history  must  know 
Christ.* 

But  we  must  go  back  to  primeval  fountains, 
and  trace  the  central  element  or  principle  referred 
to,  namely,  God  as  a  personality,  more  espe 
cially  "  God  in  Christ,"  either  as  a  hope  or  a  pos 
session,  in  the  great  powers  which  ruled  over  an 
cient  society,  in  religion,  philosophy,  and  what 
men  call  the  common,  but  in  reality  divine,  suc 
cession  of  events. 

*  "  By  him,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  all  things  consist,  "(awfarriKev,) 
literally,  stand  together ;  that  is,  in  him,  and  around  him,  all  facts 
converge. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  CENTRAL  PRINCIPLE,  OR  CHRIST  IN  ANCIENT 
RELIGION. 

WE  cannot  here  trace,  with  any  detail,  the  his 
tory  of  religion  from  the  earliest  times,  but  a  brief 
and  comprehensive  sketch,  indicating  its  general 
character,  and  especially  its  relations  to  Christ, 
will  be  in  place. 

Leaving  out  of  the  account,  for  the  present,  the 
teachings  of  the  Scriptures  as  to  the  primitive 
form  of  belief  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world,  we 
begin  with  religion  as  it  existed  in  the  form  of 
nature-worship,  symbol-worship,  and  idolatry. 
The  most  eminent  archaeologists  and  historians 
give  it  as  their  opinion  that  these,  in  the  elder  and 
more  civilized  nations,  were  the  corruptions  of  a 
purer  faith ;  or  at  least  that  the  traditional  influ 
ence  of  a  purer  faith  mingled  with  these  in  all 
their  successive  transformations.  "  The  more  I 
investigate  the  ancient  history  of  the  world,"  says 
A.  W.  Schlegel,  "  the  more  I  arn  convinced  that 
the  civilized  nations  set  out  from  a  purer  worship 
of  the  Supreme  Being  ;  that  the  magic  power  of 
nature  over  the  imagination  of  the  successive  hu- 

(35) 


36  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

man  races,  first  at  a  later  period,  produced  poly 
theism,  and  finally  altogether  obscured  the  more 
spiritual  religious  notions,  while  the  wise  alone 
preserved  within  the  sanctuary  the  primeval  se 
cret,* 

Among  all  these  nations,  especially  in  the 
writings  of  the  poets,  and  in  the  primitive  reli 
gious  or  mythological  traditions,  scattered  memo 
rials  are  found  of  a  belief  in  the  existence  and 
moral  government  of  God  and  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.  Plutarch,  in  his  treatise  on  the  Isis  and 
Osiris  of  Egyptian  worship,  informs  us,  that  "  it 
was  a  most  ancient  opinion  handed  down  from 

*  Those  who  wish  to  investigate  this  subject  are  referred  to 
Cuclworth's  Intellectual  System,  civ.,  passim ;  the  first  part  of 
Warburton's  Divine  Legation  of  Moses,  compared  with  Mosheim, 
De  Rebus  ante  Const,  p.  17,  et  seq.,  (in  Dr.  Murdock's  edition  of 
Vidal's  Translation,  pp.  20-48 ;)  Neander's  Church  Hist.  vol.  i.  pp. 
5-34  ;  F.  W.  Schlegel's  Language  and  Wisdom  of  the  Indians ;  and 
Mueller's  Intro,  to  a  Complete  System  of  Mythology.  With  ref 
erence  to  the  Mysteries,  see  Creuzer's  Symbolik  ^^nd  Mythologie,  iv. 
3,  et  seq. ;  Limburg  Brouwer's  Histoire  de  la  Civilisation  des  Grecs, 
torn.  2,  cxiv.  ;  Bryant's  Analysis  of  Ancient  Mythology,  vol.  iii.  p. 
400,  et  seq.  Lobeck,  in  his  celebrated  A glaophcrmis  JUttaiff  has  in 
geniously  defended  a  different  view  ;  but  the  verdict  of  recent  my- 
thologists  is  against  him.  The  arguments  upon  this  subject  are 
summed  up  in  an  ingenious  and  eloquent  article  in  Blackwood's 
Mag.  for  February,  1853.  On  the  opinions  of  the  Ancient  Egyp 
tians,  see  Prichard's  Analysis  of  Egyptian  Mythology;  as,  also, 
Kenrick's  Ancient  Egypt,  particularly  vol.  i.  pp.  302,  306.  Meiners, 
in  his  too  highly-estimated  work  entitled  Hist.  Doctrine  de  Deo  Vero, 
has  maintained  that  the  heathen  received  their  first  idea  of  the  true 
God  from  Athanagoras  ;  but  his  reasoning  is  one-sided  and  unsat 
isfactory.  The  views  of  Neander,  Schleiermacher  and  the  later  Ger 
man  theologians  arc  much  nearer  the  truth. 


ANCIENT   RELIGION.  37 

legislators  and  divines  to  poets  and  philosophers, 
the  author  of  it  entirely  unknown,  but  the  belief 
of  it  indelibly  established  not  only  in  tradition 
and  the  talk  of  the  common  people,  but  in  the 
mysteries  and  sacred  offices  of  religion,  both 
amongst  Greeks  and  barbarians  spread  all  over 
the  face  of  the  earth,  that  the  universe  was  not 
upheld  fortuitously,  without  mind,  reason,  or  a 
governor  to  preside  over  its  affairs." 

This  is  especially  true  of  the  Egyptians,  Chal 
deans,  Assyrians,  and  probably  the  Hindoos,  as 
also,  to  some  extent,  of  the  elder  Greeks  and 
Romans.  Zeus  himself,  (from  the  verb  signify 
ing  to  live*)  the  head  of  the  Olympian  conclave, 
is  but  a  corruption,  as  the  name  imports,  of  the 
one  "living"  and  eternal  Jehovah,  the  basis  of 
which  undoubtedly  is,  the  "  I  am  that  I  am,"  or 
Tlie  Existing-  One  of  Moses,  "  King  of  kings  and 
Lord  of  lords."  Occasionally,  in  the  Greek  dra 
matists  and  elsewhere,  he  is  described  as  the  One 
Fountain  of  life,  "  the  Father  of  gods  and  men." 

*  This  derivation  is  given  by  Plato  in  the  Cratylus,  (28.)  "  For 
in  reality,"  he  says,  "  the  name  of  Zeus  is,  so  to  speak,  a  sentence, 
and  persons  dividing  it  into  two  parts,  some  of  us  make  use  of  one 
part,  and  some  another;  for  some  call  him  Zfjv,  and  some  A<j;  but 
these  parts,  combined  in  one,  exhibit  the  nature  of  the  God,  which, 
as  we  have  said,  a  name  ought  to  do.  For  there  is  no  one  who,  in 
a  higher  sense,  is  the  cause  of  life,  both  to  us  and  every  thing  else, 
than  he  who  is  the  Ruler  and  King  of  all.  It  follows,  therefore, 
that  this  God  is  rightly  named,  through  whom  life  is  imparted  to  all 
living  beings." 

4 


38  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Thus,  in  the  Troades  of  Euripides,  we  have  the 
following:  — 

"  0  thou  who  guid'st  the  rolling  of  the  earth, 
And  o'er  it  hast  thy  throne,  whoe'er  thou  art, 
Most  difficult  to  know,  the  far-famed  Zeus, 
Or  nature's  law,  or  reason  such  as  man's, 
I  thee  adore,  that,  in  a  noiseless  path, 
Thy  steady  hand  with  justice  all  things  rules." 

In  the  CEdipus  Coloneus  we  read,  — 

"  Thou  power  supreme,  all  power  above, 
All-seeing,  all-performing  Jove." 

But  in  the  Philoctetes  of  the  same  poet,  the  earth 
is  apostrophized  as  the  mother  of  all  things :  — 

"  O  Earth,  thou  mother  of  great  Jove, 
Embracing  all  with  universal  love." 

In  the  Prometheus  of  yEschylus,  the  most  original 
and  powerful  of  the  Greek  tragedies,  Jove  is  de 
scribed  as  a  usurper.  Prometheus,  the  half-divine, 
half-human  Sufferer  and  Savior,  (as  it  were  a 
dumb  prophecy  of  Christ,)  is  the  true  friend  of 
man.  It  is  only  by  glimpses  and  flashes  that  the 
Greek  poets* give  any  just  conceptions  of  a  su 
preme,  all-righteous  Deity.  Eusebius,  for  ex 
ample,  in  his  Preparatip  Ev angelica,  quotes  from 
a  lost  tragedy  of  Euripides  these  striking  words : — 

"  Thou  self-sprung  being,  that  doth  all  infold, 
And  in  thine  arms  heaven's  whirling  fabric  hold," 

reminding  us  of  Bryant's  beautiful  lines, — 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  39 

"  Whoso  love  doth  keep 
lu  his  complacent  arms  the  earth,  the  air,  the  deep." 

It  is  well  known,  however,  that  in  all  these 
dramatists,  and  in  the  popular  Greek  theogonies, 
Jupiter,  the  apotheosis  of  a  Phrygian  tyrant,  is 
most  frequently  represented  as  the  son  of  Chronds, 
(Time,)  as  also  of  Gaea,  (Earth,)  as  controlled 
by  the  Fates,  as  actuated  by  base  passions,  as 
(lie  usurper  of  a  throne  held  by  a  race  of  elder 
gods,  as  subject  to  violent  changes,  nay,  as  in 
danger,  some  time  or  other,  of  losing  his  domin 
ions.  But,  alas  !  what  can  be  expected  from  minds 
left  to  the  sole  guidance  of  nature  and  fancy? 
Still  we  discern  in  them  all  the  struggles  of  a  better 
faith,  the  faint  traditional  gleams  of  a  purer  era.* 
To  the  same  effect  some  of  the  Christian  fathers, 
especially  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  Justin 
Martyr,  quote  several  traditionary  passages  from 
Orpheus,  Musaeus,  the  Sibylline  Oracles,  and 
other  Greek  poems,  some  of  which  may  be  sup 
posed  to  be  genuine.  Of  these  we  translate  one 
or  two  specimens  :  — 

"  I  adjure  thee  by  heaven,  the  work  of  the  wise  and  great  God  ; 
I  adjure  thee  by  the  voice  of  the  Father." 

*  Plato,  it  is  well  known,  excludes  the  poets  from  his  ideal  republic  ; 
not  that  he  was  averse  to  poetry,  —  far  from  it,  —  but  because  some 
of  them,  by  their  prurient  fancies  had  corrupted  the  spiritual  truths 
of  religion,  and,  by  consequence,  injured  good  morals.  Hesiod  is 
sometimes  charged  with  inventing  the  gods.  The  Orphic  hymns 
are  based  upon  a  sort  of  pantheism,  recognizing  one  supreme  God, 
from  whom  issue  both  gods  and  men. 


40  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Some  doubt,  however,  may  be  thrown  upon  the 
genuineness,  or  at  least  the  absolute  antiquity,  of 

this.     More  reliable  is  the  following:  — 
*v<tn 

"  One  God,  one  PUfto,  one  Bacchus, 
One  God  in  all  -  .  "* 

That  from  the  pseudo  author  of  the  Sibylline  Or 
acles,  indorsed  as  Justin  Martyr  affirms,  by  Plato 
and  Aristophanes  as  a  vates,  could  we  rely  upon 
its  genuineness,  is  peculiarly  striking. 


"  One  God  there  is,  (Eif  fa  GtSj  jioroj,)  alone,  great,  uncreated, 
Omnipotent,  invisible,  seeing  all, 
Himself  unseen  by  mortal  flesh."  f 

We  will  not,  indeed,  urge  these  as  absolute 
authorities  upon  the  point  in  question  ;  still  they 
are  fair  specimens  of  many  similar  expressions 
which  were  afloat  in  the  current  traditionary  lit 
erature  of  Greece.  Of  the  authors  of  these  the 
profound  Heraclitus,  five  hundred  years  before 
Christ,  had  said,  "  Their  unadorned,  earnest 
words,  spoken  with  inspired  mouth,  reached 
through  a  thousand  years."  The  passages  from 
the  elder  Greek  poets  quoted  in  the  DC  Monar- 
chia  of  Justin's  works  are  equally  striking,  and 
certainly  more  reliable,  as  most  of  them  can  be 

*  In  striking  correspondence  with  this  was  the  ancient  Greek  in 
scription  on  the  Egyptian  obelisk  in  the  Circus  Major  at  Rome  : 
Meya?  O^oj  Oloycvvi'iro;  trafi(piyyt]s  —  the  great  God,  the  Bec/ottcn  of 
God,  and  the  all-radiant  One. 

f  Opera  Justini  Martyr  is,  (Otto's  ed.)  pp.  5&-5o.  Compare  what 
he  says  in  the  De  Monarchia,  p.  125,  et  seq. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  41 

verified  by  reference  to  the  originals.*  Cudworth, 
who  justly  rejects  a  large  proportion  of  the  col 
lection  called  the  Sibylline  Oracles,  as  "  a  useless 
farrago,"  quotes  the  following  as  genuine,  from 
the  works  of  Pausanias  :  — 

"Zeus  was,  Zeus  is,  Zeus  shall  be,  0  great  Zeus."  f 

In  a  word,  it  can  be  proved  beyond  a  doubt,  that 
the  Greeks,  as  well  as  some  of  the  neighboring 
nations,  did  occasionally  recognize  the  existence 
of  some  supreme  Numen,  Governor  or  Spirit  of 
the  universe,  and  that  the  idea  was  taken  up,  and 
in  some  cases  vindicated,  by  their  philosophers. 

Xenophanes,  one  of  the  early  philosophical 
rhapsodists,  and  founder  of  what  is  called  the 
Eleatic  school,  exclaims,  with  wonderful  clearness 
and  force,  — 

*  Most  of  the  Orphic  and  Sibylline  hymns  are  regarded  by  schol 
ars  as  spurious.  Many  of  them  were  undoubtedly  invented  by  the 
Neo-Platonists  of  Alexandria.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  some  of 
them,  in  a  more  or  less  perfect  form,  were  afloat,  as  traditionary 
fragments,  in  the  common  literature  of  Greece,  and  that  several  of 
these  were  quoted  or  referred  to  by  Greek  classic  writers  as  early  as 
the  days  of  Plato.  Orpheus  is  spoken  of  by  them  as  a  sort  of 
"  inspired  thcologcr."  The  best  edition  of  the  Orphic  poems  is  that 
of  Hermann.  The  question  of  their  antiquity  has  been  thoroughly 
discussed  by  Bode,  in  his  prize  essay  on  this  subject.  On  the 
Sibylline  Oracles,  an  admirable  article  may  be  found  in  the  Christian 
Review  for  March,  1848.  Compare  Neander's  Ch.  History,  i.  177. 

f  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  382.  The  quotation  from  Pausanias  reminds  us 
of  the  inscription  on  the  temple  of  Tseitha  in  Egypt,  as  reported 
by  Plutarch,  (De  Isid.  ct  Osi.,)  "Eyw  tim  nav  TO  -/eyovos  xal  ov  KO. 
taopoivov,  etc. 

4* 


42  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

"  There's  but  one  God  alone,  the  greatest  of  gods  and  of  mortals, 
Neither  in  body  to  mankind  resembling,  neither  in  ideas.* 

Pythagoras  and  the  Pythagoreans,  though  be 
wildered  by  the  duality  of  the  universe,  and  the 
apparent  duality  in  the  nature  of  the  infinite  mind, 
yet  taught  that  God,  as  essence,  is  one  ;  that  he  is 
present  in  all  things,  governing  the  world  ;  and 
that  from  him  our  souls  derive  their  origin.  They 
taught  also,  though  in  the  form  of  metempsy 
chosis,  the  immortality  of  the  human  soul,  as 
well  as  the  reality  and  eternity  of  virtue.f 

It  is  a  generally  received  opinion  that  the  great 
philosophical  writers  of  Greece  derived  some  of 
their  loftiest  notions  from  Egypt  and  the  East. 
The  philosophy  of  Plato,  whatever  its  origin,  is 
but  a  combination  of  the  Grecian  and  Oriental 
minds.  The  acknowledgment  of  one  Supreme 
and  eternal  Deity,  by  him  and  others,  is  not  so 
much  a  speculation  as  an  intuition,  if  not  a  tra 
dition  from  India  or  Egypt  ;  perhaps  from  Judea 
itself.  Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  the  German 
critics  are  right  when  they  designate  the  philos 
ophy  of  Plato  as  at  once  "  speculative  "  and 

*  Hitter  Hist,  of  An.  Ph.  vol.  i.  p.  432.    The  quotation  is  from 
Clemens  Alexandrinus,  and  is  as  follows  :  — 

E?j  0fo?  tv  TC  Qtolai  Kai  ivQpianoifft  [icyicros, 
OVTI  (^f^iaj  di'TjTotai  OVCE  voTj^a. 


t  Cicero,  De  Natura  Dcorum,  i.  11. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  43 

"  traditional."  He  himself  demands  assent  to  it, 
mainly  on  the  ground  of  its  being  aoytu  Ofonugu- 
doTo^  —  God-given  wisdom. 

Socrates,  indeed,  gives  proofs  from  adaptation 
and  design,  after  the  manner  of  Cicero  and  Paley, 
for  the  existence  and  moral  government  of  God  ; 
after  all,  it  is  evident  that  the  idea  existed  in  his 
mind,  and  in  the  mind  of  Plato  before  the  proofs 
referred  to  were  cited  in  argument*  These  rev 
erent  and  lofty  souls  caught  the  grand  idea  as  it 
floated  upon  the  stream  of  time,  amid  the  frag 
ments  of  a  primeval  revelation.  They  found  it, 
indeed,  connatural  to  their  own  reason  ;  but  they 
did  not  claim  it  as  an  original  or  independent 
thought,  which  had  sprung  up  spontaneously  in 
their  mind,  or  had  been  excogitated  by  specula 
tion  and  argument.f 

*  In  the  Platonic  dialogxies  the  existence  of  God  is  generally  as 
sumed,  or  based  upon,  an  original  intuition.  Plato,  if  called  upon 
for  a  proof,  wotild  refer  to  the  very  nature  of  being  and  thought,  as 
essential,  immutable  realities. 

Socrates,  in  Xenophon,  refers  to  adaptation  and  design.  See 
Xenophon's  Mem.  lib.  i.  c.  iv. 

f  The  ancient  fathers,  Justin  Martyr,  Cyril,  Tertullian,  and 
others,  constantly  affirm  that  Plato  derived  many  of  his  ideas  of 
God  from  the  writings  of  Moses.  After  having  quoted  the  celebrat 
ed  passage  from  the  Tiin&us,  "  that  to  know  the  Father  and  Maker 
of  all  is  very  difficult,  nor,  having  found  him,  is  it  safe  to  tell  to  all 
persons,"  Justin  Martyr  (Cohortatio  ad  Graces,  c.  22)  adds, 
"  When  Plato  had  learned  these  things  in  Egypt,  and  had  been 
greatly  delighted  with  what  was  said  concerning  the  one  God,  he 
did  not  think  it  safe  to  mention  the  name  of  Moses,  a  teacher  of  the 
one  and  only  God,  being  in  fear  of  the  Areopagus."  (Opera,  vol.  i. 
j,  r.\  -v  TV*,,  ^y.y  vs  taken  for  what  it  is  worth  ;  we  cite  it  as  cupous. 


,44:  CHKIST   IN   HISTORY. 

The  Deity,  as  recognized  by  the  Stoics,  though 
frequently  approaching  the  nature-divinity  of  pan 
theism,  had  sublime  attributes,  as  the  well-known 
hymn  of  Cleanthes  strikingly  testifies.  It  sounds 
like  the  echo,  or  the  refrain,  of  a  purer  faith.* 
Yet,  generally  speaking,  the  God  of  the  Stoics 
is  represented  by  them  as  "devouring  his  own 
offspring,"  (a  truly  pantheistic  conception,)  and 
thus  assuming  the  character  of  a  blind,  inexorable 
power,  to  whom,  willing  or  unwilling,  they  must 
submit.  They  doubted,  sometimes  denied,  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  the  consequence  of  which 
often  was  a  mournful  despair,  under  the  influence 
of  which  Cleanthes  himself  committed  suicide. 
Others  regarded  themselves  as  equal  to  God. 
and,  like  Prometheus,  defied  his  power.  A  few 
only  submitted  gracefully  to  their  destiny,  giving 
back  what  they  had  received  from  the  All.  But 
amid  all  their  speculations  gleamed  the  central 
idea  of  the  unity  and  eternity  of  God  ;  and  it  is 
this  which  gives  such  grandeur  to  some  of  their 
expressions,  and  its  fine  moral  charm  to  the  hymn 
of  Cleanthes. 

A  similar  and  perhaps  more  striking  instance 
of  this  primitive,  perhaps  foreign,  element  in  the 
religion  of  Greece  is  from  the  poet  Aratus,  as 

*  How  grand  and  striking  the  commencement  : 
Kt'6ior'  aQavaTM,  TroAuwviy/s  xayxpaTf  j  alti, 


XaTps. 


ANCIENT    KliLIGlON.  45 

quoted  by  St.  Paul,  in  bis  address  before  the 
Athenian  Areopagus,  on  which  occasion  the 
great  apostle  recognizes  the  religious  spirit  in- 
crusted  by  superstition,  even  in  their  heathen 
cultus.  He  declares  unto  them  "the  unknown 
God,  whom,"  says  he,  "ye  ignorantly  worship." 
It  appears  that  Eudoxus  of  Cnidus,  a  contempo 
rary  of  Plato,  about  370  years  before  Christ,  sent 
forth  a  description  of  the  face  of  the  heavens, 
containing  the  names  and  characters  of  the  con 
stellations  recognized  in  his  day.  Though  this 
production  has  perished,  a  poetical  paraphrase 
of  it  was  made  by  Aratus,  a  Cilician,  and  prob 
ably  a  native  of  Tarsus ;  and  this  is  the  poem 
from  which  St.  Paul  quotes.  It  opens  with  a 
statement  of  the  dependence  of  all  things  upon 
Zeus,  whose  children  all  men  are,  and  who  has 
given  the  stars  as  the  guides  of  agriculture: — • 

"  With  Jove  (Zeus)  we  must  begin,  nor  from  him  rove, 
Him  always  praise ;  for  all  is  full  of  Jove  ! 
He  fills  all  places  where  mankind  resort, 
The  wide-spread  sea,  with  every  sheltering  port. 
Jove's  presence  fills  all  space,  upholds  this  ball ; 
All  need  his  aid,  his  power  sustains  us  all ; 
For  we  his  offspring  are,*  and  he  in  love 
Points  out  to  man  his  labor  from  above, 
Where  signs  unerring  show  where  best  the  soil 
By  well-timed  culture  shall  repay  our  toil." 

*  The  original  expression  is  row  yap  KOI  y/voj  iffplv.  Similar  ex 
pressions  may  be  found  in  Plato.  See  the  passage  respecting  the 
creation  of  man,  as  translated  by  Cicero,  quoted  in  Knapp's  Theo. 
p.  197. 


46  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

It  is  questionable,  indeed,  whether  Aratus  felt 
the  full  force  of  his  own  words.  They  probably 
convey  to  us  a  far  sublimer  conception  than  ever 
dawned  upon  his  mind.  For  the  fact  is,  while 
gleams  of  diviner  light  occasionally  flashed  upon 
some  of  the  Grecian  intellects,  most  of  them  were 
far  from  realizing  the  spiritual  unity  and  su 
premacy  of  the  all-comprehending  Spirit.  Their 
religion  was  only  a  poetical,  often  a  very  licen 
tious  nature-worship,  in  the  form  of  polytheism. 
Their  gods  were  seldom  better,  often  vastly 
worse,  than  themselves.* 

By  a  natural  process  of  deterioration,  the 
primitive  and  purer  worship,  in  all  nations,  was 
gradually  merged  in  superstition.  Those  unde 
fined  feelings  which  mankind  naturally  cherish 
towards  some  superior  power  were  transferred 
either  to  symbolic  representations,  or  to  material 
objects.  The  principles  and  forms  of  idolatry,  at 
first  few  and  simple,  were  gradually  multiplied. 
The  system  was  invested  with  greater  pomp,  and 
modified  by  more  numerous  and  elaborate  cere 
monies.  The  knowledge  of  the  true  God  grew 
dim,  and  was  all  but  effaced  from  the  minds  of 
men.  Only  its  image  or  echo  remained.  A 
vague  but  still  sublime  impression  of  "  something 
far  more  deeply  interfused,"  a  "  motion"  and  a 

*  Sec  Grotc's  History  of  Greece,  vol.  i.  pp.  3-19. 


ANCIENT   RELIGION.  47 

"  presence,"  vast  and  mysterious,  dwelling  in  the 
light  of  setting  suns,  whispering  in  hoary  woods 
and  mountain  solitudes,  or  residing,  in  supreme 
but  hidden  grandeur,  above  the  blue  concave, 
amid  radiant  suns  and  constellations,  led  them 
to  seek  emblems  of  the  Deity  in  the  more  bril 
liant  and  magnificent  forms  of  nature.  Nature, 
indeed,  was  substituted  for  God.  The  fragment 
was  taken  for  the  whole ;  the  world  for  the 
world's  Creator  and  Lord  ;  the  life,  the  beauty, 
the  motion  for  the  great  and  eternal  Spirit  from 
whom  they  spring.  The  motions  and  uses, 
especially  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  were  observed. 
They  were  supposed  to  exert  a  baleful  or  benig 
nant  influence  not  only  upon  the  earth,  but  upon 
the  soul  and  destiny  of  man.  They  seemed  the 
very  eyes  of  God,  or  of  the  Gods  ;  nay,  more,  the 
very  power  and  presence  of  uncreated  glory, 
burning,  with  unconsuming  fires,  in  the  depths 
of  "  the  eternal  night." 

Besides,  it  is  natural  to  give  outward  form  and 
expression  to  inward  feelings  and  conceptions,  to 
symbolize,  in  permanent  shape  and  image,  ab 
stract  principles  and  modes  of  being.  Hence  the 
language  of  signs,  of  hieroglyphs,  and  emblems, 
common  to  all  the  ruder  nations.  Hence  the  sym 
bols  even  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the  signs  and 
ceremonies  of  the  old  temple  worship  among  the 


48  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

spiritual  Hebrews.*  Mr.  Layard  thinks  that  the 
magnificent,  winged,  lion- headed,  and  human- 
headed  animals,  excavated  from  the  ruins  of 
Nineveh,  were  emblems  of  the  attributes  and 
perfections  of  the  old  Assyrian  deities. 

"  What  more  noble  forms,"  says  he,  "  could 
have  ushered  the  people  into  the  temple  of  their 
gods  ?  What  more  sublime  images  could  have 
been  borrowed  from  nature  by  men  who  sought, 
unaided  by  the  light  of  revealed  religion,  to  em 
body  their  conception  of  the  wisdom,  power,  and 
ubiquity  of  a  Supreme  Being?  They  could  find 
no  better  type  of  intellect  and  knowledge  than 
the  head  of  a  man  —  of  strength,  than  the  body 
of  a  lion  —  of  rapidity  of  motion,  than  the  wings 
of  a  bird.  These  winged,  human-headed  lions 
were  not  idle  creations,  the  offspring  of  mere 
fancy.  They  had  awed  and  instructed  races 
which  flourished  three  thousand  years  ago. 
Through  the  portals  which  they  guarded,  kings, 
priests,  and  warriors  had  borne  sacrifices  to  their 
altars  long  before  the  wisdom  of  the  East  had 
penetrated  to  Greece,  and  had  furnished  its 

*  The  Jews  were  not  forbidden  the  use  of  symbols  as  such,  but  only 
of  idolatrous  images ;  that  is,  of  idols  or  figures  representing  the 
divinity.  Their  whole  history,  temple  service,  and  even  domestic 
rites,  were  symbolic.  The  cherubim  above  the  mercy  seat  symbolized 
the  divine  attributes.  It  is  not  symbols,  but  symbol-worship,  or 
idolatry  proper  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  substitution  for  the  eternal  God 
of  outward  forms,  or  created  beings,  which  is  so  abhorrent  to  the 
pure  Theism  of  the  Bible. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  49 

mythology  with  symbols  long  recognized  by  the 
Assyrian  votaries."  * 

But  man  unregenerate  has  earthly  and  carnal 
tendencies.  He  speedily  loses  the  knowledge  of 
the  spiritual  and  eternal.  Thence,  in  process  of 
time,  among  all  the  ancient  nations,  the  sign 
assumed  the  place  of  the  thing  signified-!  God 
was  forgotten,  while  his  image  remained.  Prin 
ciples  were  lost,  but  emblems  and  usages  con 
tinued.  The  outer  aspects  and  forces  of  nature 
were  deified  and  adored.  These,  again,  by  an 
easy  descent  into  error,  came  to  be  considered 
as  separate  powers  ruling  over  the  various  de 
partments  of  the  universe.  In  this  way  the 
primitive  form  of  idolatrous  worship  was  the 
adoration  of  the  earth  and  the  blue  concave  with 
its  innumerable  fires,  and  especially  the  sun, 
moon,  and  brighter  planets,  perhaps  as  the  sym 
bols  of  the  Divinity,  then  as  the  real  aspects  and 
attributes  of  his  nature,  and  finally  as  separate 
gods.  Artificial  emblems  of  these,  in  their  turn, 
were  formed,  either  by  means  of  painted  or  of 
sculptured  images ;  and  thus,  in  succeeding  ages, 
the  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Shiva  of  Hindoo 

*  Nineveh,  vol.  i.,  p.  69. 

•f-  Doubtless  there  were,  in  all,  individual  exceptions.  The  influ 
ence  of  tradition,  of  natural  reason  and  conscience,  and  the  secret 
working  of  the  divine  Spirit,  not  entirely  withheld  from  the  heathen, 
preserved  in  devout  hearts  the  worship  of  the  one  true  God. 

5 


50  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

mythology  —  the  ancient  Belus  or  Baal  of  Chal 
dean  and  Phoenician  worship — the  Moloch  or 
fire-god,  Ashtaroth  or  Astarte,  the  moon-god,  and 
Remphan,  the  star-god  of  Canaan  and  the  neigh 
boring  countries  —  the  Osiris  or  sun-god  of 
Egypt  —  with  the  Jupiter  and  Apollo  (Phoebus 
or  the  sun-god)  of  Greek  and  Roman  supersti 
tion,  took  the  place  of  the  more  simple  and 
beautiful  objects  of  early  adoration.* 

If  Layard  has  given  us  the  true  import  of  the 
ancient  Assyrian  images,  they  had  lost  it  as 
early  as  the  days  of  the  Hebrew  prophets,  who 
justly  represent  the  Assyrians  as  abject  idol 
aters.  Various  monuments  on  the  Assyrian 
sculpture  even  now  prove  that  they  adored  the 
powers  of  nature  and  "  the  host  of  heaven."  If 
they  had  any  conception  of  a  supreme  Divinity, 
he  was  probably  regarded  only  as  the  first  among 
many.  The  sun  was  the  principal  object  of 
Chaldean  worship,  originally,  we  doubt  not,  as 
the  symbol  of  Jehovah,  but  subsequently  "  in 
and  for  itself,"  as  Baal  or  Belus,  whence  the 
Greek  Apollo  (inioc)  or  the  sun-god,  correspond 
ing,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  to  the  sun-god 
of  ancient  Peru.f  The  magnificent  bull-god 

*  Bitter,  Hist.  An.  Ph.  i.  p.  81,  and  F.  W.  Schlegel's  Ph.  of 
Hist.  pp.  214-227. 

t  Sec  Prcscott's  Conquest  of  Peru.  Introductory  account  of 
Peruvian  civilization. 


ANCIENT   RELIGION.  51 

with  human  head  and  spreading  wings,  less 
appropriate  and  beautiful  than  the  sun-god  with 
streaming  rays,  or  in  the  form  of  a  majestic, 
irradiated  man,  the  Apollo  of  later  times,  was 
probably  the  symbol  of  divine  power ;  but  the 
symbol  itself,  in  the  worship  of  the  people,  as 
the  calf  in  the  Hebrew  idolatry,  doubtless,  took 
the  place  of  the  true  and  eternal  Jehovah. 
"These  be  thy  gods "  —  thy  Elohim,  or  God, 
symbols  of  thy  God,  "  O  Israel ! "  In  all  the 
tombs  and  temples  of  Assyria  and  Chaldea,  and 
even  of  Nubia  and  Egypt,  are  sculptured  repre 
sentations' and  inscriptions  of  these  divinities  — 
"  the  chambers  of  imagery  "  seen  by  Ezekiel  in 
his  prophetic  visions. 

The  process  of  change  and  deterioration  to 
which  we  have  referred  is  strikingly  developed 
in  Egyptian  history.  We  find  among  them,  in 
the  first  place,  some  vague  idea  of  a  Supreme 
Being,  with  attributes  of  omnipotence  and  eter 
nity,  to  whom  all  things  are  referred,  and  who 
was  too  holy  to  be  named  by  any  one  except 
the  priests,  finally  figured  on  all  the  sculptures 
as  the  Sun-god,  whence  the  term  Phre  or  Phra, 
and  thence  Pharaoh,  the  emperor  or  Caesar  of 
Egypt,  who  derived  his  power  from  the  Divin 
ity,  and  who,  in  his  absolute  dominion,  mirrored 
the  might  and  supremacy  of  the  eternal  Sun.* 

*  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson  says  that  the  Hebrew  Phra  is  taken 
from  the  Egyptian  word  pire,  or  phre,  signifying  the  sun,  and  rep- 


52  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

This  supreme  and  "  hidden  "  God  was  Amun, 
afterwards  called  Zeus,  or  Jupiter  Ammon,  sym 
bolically  represented  under  the  figure  of  a  ram, 
with  the  disk  of  the  sun  upon  his  head,  to  indi 
cate  that  he  is  the  God  of  the  sun,  as  that  lu 
minary  enters  the  sign  of  the  Ram.*  In  Egyp 
tian  theogony,  Amun  is  represented  as  manifest 
ing  himself  through  Phtha,  the  god  of  light  or 
fire,  in  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  thus  form 
ing  gods  and  men.  The  government  of  the 
universe,  under  him,  is  committed  to  twelve  prin 
cipal  gods,  each  of  whom  has  for  his  symbol 
one  of  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac,  with  three 
attendants  or  satellites,  and  these  again  with 
their  attendants,  and  so  on  in  succession,  until 
the  last  class  of  subordinates  amount  to  three 
hundred  and  sixty.  These,  with  various  orders 
of  demons,  good  and  bad,  preside  over  the  earth 
and  heavens,  and  so  divide  the  year.  Hence  the 
•study  of  astrology,  to  which  the  Egyptians  and 
other  ancient  nations  were  so  much  addicted-! 

According  to  this  system  men  are  the  em- 
resented  in  hieroglyphics  by  the  hawk  and  globe,  or  sun,  over  the 
royal  banner.  —  Egypt,  &c.,  by  Dr.  Hawks,  p.  101. 

*  Whence  Heliopolis,  the  sacred  city  of  the  sun. 

f  We  ought  to  state  here  that  the  latest  authorities  deny  the 
general  prevalence  of  any  one  system  of  religion  in  Egypt.  It 
would  appear  that  various  gods  were  worshipped  in  different  parts 
of  the  country.  Polytheism  must  have  been  prevalent  at  a  very 
early  period.  See  upon  this  subject  Kenrick's  Ancient  Egypt,  vol. 
j.  p.  305. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  53 

bodied  spirits  of  a  higher  order  of  beings,  who, 
prompted  by  curiosity,  formerly  passed  the  bound 
aries  of  the  celestial  spheres,  and  received  cor 
poreal  frames  from  the  god  Hermes.  Falling 
into  discontent  and  misery,  they  lost  their  prim 
itive  purity,  and  became  a  burden  to  the  earth 
and  elements,  who  complained  of  them  to  their 
creator.  Pitying  them,  he  sent  Osiris  and  Isis 
upon  the  earth  to  redeem  them. 

Hence  followed  the  sensual  worship  of  Osiris  as 
the  sun,  and  Isis  as  the  moon,  generative  powers 
of  nature,  with  Typhon,  the  serpent  or  destroyer. 
Osiris  was  regarded  as  the  tutelar  deity  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  his  spirit  or  soul  was  supposed 
always  to  inhabit  the  body  of  the  bull  Apis,  a 
black  animal  with  a  white  spot  like  a  triangle 
on  his  forehead,  another  resembling  a  crescent  on 
his  right  side,  and  under  his  tongue  a  lump  or 
protuberance,  somewhat  resembling  a  beetle. 

Thus  beast- worship  became  universal  in  Egypt ; 
for  the  symbolic  meaning  of  the  bull-god  was 
known  only  to  the  priests. 

Such  a  system,  of  course,  readily  mingled  with 
the  lowest  forms  of  fetichism,  springing  spon 
taneously  from  the  soil,  or  introduced  into  Egypt 
from  the  neighboring  countries.  So  that  we 
finally  find  throughout  the  land  a  monstrous  and 
degrading  worship  of  all  sorts  of  gods  in  the  heav 
ens  above,  and  in  the  earth  beneath,  and  in  the 
5* 


54  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

waters  under  the  earth  —  cats,  serpents  and  other 
reptiles,  plants  and  flowers,  rivers  and  fountains 
of  waters,  and  especially  the  old  prolific  Nile  with 
its  ibises  and  crocodiles. 

"  Among  the  Egyptians,"  says  Clement  of  Al 
exandria,  "  you  find  temples  and  porticoes,  and 
vestibules  and  sacred  groves ;  their  halls  are  sur 
rounded  with  numberless  columns ;  the  walls  are 
resplendent  with  foreign  stones  and  beautiful 
paintings ;  the  temples  are  brilliant  with  gold  and 
silver,  and  amber  and  many-colored  gems  from 
India  and  Ethiopia,  while  the  adyta  are  curtained 
with  gold  embroidered  hangings ;  but  if  you  go 
into  the  deep  interior  of  the  place,  and  eagerly 
seek  to  see  what  you  suppose  will  be  most  worth 
your  attention,  —  the  statue  which  occupies  the 
temple,  —  a  priest  of  dignified  aspect,  from  among 
those  who  offer  sacrifice  in  the  most  holy  place, 
singing  a  paean  in  the  Egyptian  tongue,  lifts  the 
veil  a  little  aside,  as  if  to  show  the  god ;  then  you 
find  occasion  for  hearty  laughter  ;  for  instead  of 
the  god  you  are  seeking,  you  will  find  but  a  cat, 
a  crocodile,  a  serpent  of  the  country,  or  some 
other  beast  worthy  only  of  some  cavern,  den,  or 
marsh,  rolling  upon  purple  coverlets!" 

The  vast  and  monstrous  superstitions  of  the 

*  Psedagog.  lib.  iii.  c.  2.  For  further  information  on  the  subject 
of  Egyptian  superstition,  see  Pritchard's  Analysis  of  Egyptian 
Mythology,  Iconographic  Cyclopedia,  vol.  iv.,  art.  Mythology; 


AXCIENT    RELIGION.  55 

Hindoo  mythology  are  founded  upon  material 
pantheism,  or  nature-worship.  Brahm,  the  su 
preme  deity,  written  in  the  neuter  gender  to  in 
dicate  his  negative  character,  being  simple  exist 
ence  without  consciousness  or  will,  all  at  once 
becomes  prolific,  and  distributes  himself  "  lying 
on  eternity  and  the  stars."  The  gods  Brahma, 
Vishnu,  and  Shiva  are  the  result,  being  the  cre 
ating,  preserving,  and  destroying  powers  of  Brahm 
or  the  Universe,  adored,  however,  as  separate  and 
even  contending  divinities.  Indeed,  all  things 
are  deified  in  the  Brahminic  faith,  men  and  dev 
ils,  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  all  mountains  and  val 
leys,  all  seas  and  streams,  all  hills  and  groves,  all 
plants  and  animals,  all  insects  and  reptiles.  These, 
in  fact,  are  but  the  natural  development  of  the 
supreme  divinity.  All  the  powers  of  nature, 
male  and  female,  are  adored  with  appropriate 
rites.  Vice  itself  is  deified  and  adored  in  end 
less  forms,  and  the  result  is  universal  superstition, 
universal  beast-worship ;  we  might  add  vice- 
worship,  for  Kalee,  the  goddess  of  murder,  has 
myriad  votaries.  The  Thugs  or  Stranglers  are 
her  sedulous  devotees.  They  murder  as  an  act 
of  devotion. 

In  Brahminism  the  most  hideous  ceremonies, 

Jablonsky's  Pantheon  JEgyptiorum ;  Wilkinson's  Manners  of  the 
Ancient  Egyptians  ;  De  Pamv,  Recherches  Philosophiques  sur  les 
Egyptiens  et  ks  Chiiiois  ;  Kenrick's  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs. 


56  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

and  even  the  most  revolting  crimes,  are  strangely 
mingled  with  sublime  imaginings  and  thrilling 
fancies.  God,  as  the  absolute,  is  the  beginning 
and  end  of  all,  an  echo  and  exaggeration  of  the 
truth,  but  in  this  system  a  monstrous  error.  "  His 
oneness,"  say  the  Shastres,  "is  so  absolute,  that 
it  not  only  excludes  the  possibility  of  any  other 
god,  coordinate  and  subordinate,  but  excludes  the 
possibility  of  aught  else,  human  or  angelic,  mate 
rial  or  immaterial."  Thence  he  is  conceived  not 
only  as  in  all  and  through  all,  but  as  positively 
and  exclusively  All,  whether  sun  or  star,  weed  or 
flower,  reptile  or  man,  vice  or  virtue.  "  Possessed 
of  innumerable  heads,"  says  one  of  the  Vedas, 
written,  according  to  Sir  William  Jones,  1500 
years  before  Christ,  and  according  to  Mr.  Cole- 
brooke  even  earlier  than  that,  "  innumerable  eyes, 
innumerable  feet,  Brahm  fills  the  heavens  and 
earth  ;  he  is  whatever  was,  whatever  will  be  ;  he 
is  the  source  of  universal  motion  ;  he  is  the  light 
of  the  moon,  the  sun,  the  fire,  the  lightning.  The 
Veda  is  the  breath  of  his  nostrils,  the  primary 
elements  are  his  sight,  the  agitation  of  human 
affairs  is  his  laughter,  his  sleep  is  the  destruction 
of  the  universe.  In  different  forms  he  cherishes 
his  creatures ;  in  the  form  of  air  he  preserves 
them,  in  the  form  of  water  he  satisfies  them,  in 
the  form  of  the  sun  he  guides  them  in  the  affairs 
of  life,  and  in  that  of  the  moon  he  refreshes  them 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  57 

in  sleep ;  the  progression  of  time  forms  his  foot 
steps  ;  all  the  gods  to  him  are  as  sparks  of  fire. 
To  him  I  bow,  I  bow." 

Hence  a  return  to  Brahm,  —  the  silent,  the  un 
conscious,  the  eternal,  —  becomes  the  dream  and 
desire  of  all.  Utter  absorption  is  the  longing  of 
the  Brahmin  and  the  Soudra,  the  philosopher  and 
the  peasant,  the  saint  and  the  sinner.  Through 
countless  migrations  from  body  to  body,  he  hopes 
at  last  to  reach  the  abyss.* 

In  Budhisrn  the  idea  of  the  divine  seems  all 
but  lost ;  but  this,  we  doubt  not,  was  its  original 
foundation  ;  though  now  the  majority  of  its  vota 
ries  deny  the  existence  of  an  eternal,  that  is,  of 
a  conscious,  ever-living  God,  and  long  for  abso 
lute  nigban,  annihilation  or  absorption.  Gauda- 
ma,  or  Budh,  was  once  on  earth,  but  passing  away 
has  himself  reached  annihilation,  or  the  Burchan 
state.  Budh,  indeed,  is  properly  a  generic  term, 
meaning  the  divinity,  while  Gaudama  (among 
the  Burmans,  particularly)  is  the  name  of  their 
last  Budh,  regarded  by  some  of  the  Hindoos  as 
the  ninth  incarnation  of  Vishnu,  the  same,  there- 


*  For  a  brief  popular  account  of  the  Hindoo  religion,  see  F.  D. 
W.  Ward's  India  and  the  Hindoos,  pp.  267-277.  Those  who  de 
sire  more  extended  information  must  consult  Colebrooke's  Essay, 
Miscellanies,  &c.,  Sir  William  Jones's  Works,  Ward's  View  of 
the  Hindoos,  and  The  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society.  Compare 
Van  Bohlen's  Das  AUcIndien,  and  A.  W.  Sehlcgel  on  the  Bhagavad 
Gita. 


58  crnusT  IN  HISTORY. 

fore,  as  Krishna,  who  is  supposed  to  have  lived 
about  the  sixth  century  before  Christ.  Among 
the  Burmans  and  others,  he  is  simply  a  deified 
man,  who  has  attained  nigban.  They  expect 
another  Budh  many  thousand  years  hence;  in 
the  mean  while,  they  worship  only  images,  and 
literally  have  no  god.*  Here,  then,  amid  forms 
and  beliefs,  which  at  first  sight  appear  atheistic, 
we  have  the  indestructible  longing  after  absolute 
and  eternal  Being,  which,  in  its  reality,  is  God. 
The  return  to  the  All  is  but  the  dim  shadow,  per 
haps  the  fatal  corruption  of  the  sublime  idea  of 
the  soul's  return  to  the  "  Father  of  spirits."  It 
would  seem,  indeed,  as  if  the  entire  Oriental  mind 
revolved  around  this  idea,  and  longed,  blindly 
and  instinctively,  for  this  ineffable  result.  After 
all,  their  Burchan  state  is  not  absolute  extinction, 
but  impersonal  repose  in  the  bosom  of  God. 

Another  great  element  of  the  faith  of  the  Orien 
tals,  which  we  find  in  many  diversified  forms,  is  the 
possible  coming  of  God  to  man,  as  well  as  the 

*  Malcora's  Travels,  vol.  i.  pp.  211-248.  Mr.  Malcom  endeavors 
to  show  that  Budhism  is  older  than  Brahminism.  But  his  arguments 
are  not  satisfactory.  The  probabilities  are  all  in  favor  of  its  being 
the  last  result  of  material  pantheism.  It  exists  in  different  forms 
among  the  nations  of  Farther  India.  The  best  axithorities  represent 
it  as  a  branch  or  a  shoot  of  Brahminism.  Its  essential  principle, 
namely,  absorption,  after  endless  changes,  in  Brahm,  or  the  All,  is 
the  same.  See  Hitter,  Hist,  of  An.  Ph.  i.  p.  93  ;  see  also  the  second 
part  of  F.  W.  Schcgel's  Language  and  Wisdom  of  the  Indians ; 
Icon.  Cyclo.  vol.  iv.  p.  233. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  59 

possible  return  of  man  to  God.  The  idea  of  God's 
becoming  man,  and  man's  becoming  God,  is  the 
mystic  circle  in  which  all  their  thoughts  revolve. 
Nothing  is  more  familiar  to  their  minds  than  the 
possibility  of  divine  incarnations,  and  the  con 
sequent  possibility  of  human  transformations. 
Somehow,  God  and  man,  the  infinite  and  the 
finite  spirit,  must  become  one. 

Is  not  this,  too,  in  reality,  the  basis  of  all  our 
western  religions  ?  Nay,  is  it  not  the  very  essence 
of  all  religion,  as  a  spiritual  power  intended  to 
restore  man  to  the  lost  image  of  God,  and  thus 
make  him  one  with  God  ?  The  western  mind 
indeed  clings  to  the  great  fact  of  personality, 
maintaining  not  only  the  personality  of  man,  but 
the  personality  of  God ;  but  it  recognizes  the  pos 
sibility  of  interior  and  eternal  unity,  and  conse- 
cjuently  easily  adopts  the  doctrine  of  a  divine 
incarnation,  and  on  the  basis  of  this,  the  idea  of 
a  human  transformation.  Hence  "  the  incarna 
tion"  and  "the  new  birth"  are  the  fundamental 
and  most  profoundly  cherished  truths  of  Chris 
tianity. 

In  a  word,  from  his  very  nature  man  longs  for 
some  special  manifestation  of  God,  in  such  form 
as  he  can  appreciate,  and  on  the  ground  of  this, 
for  some  sacred  and  eternal  union  with  the  Source 
of  being  and  happiness.  He  must  have  a  Re 
deemer  and  a  heaven ;  in  default  of  which  he 


60  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

invents  his  Brahmas,  his  Krishnas  and  Osirises, 
his  "  lords  many  and  gods  many,"  his  Nigbans 
and  Burchans,  his  Mount  Merus  and  Elysian 
Fields. 

This,  however,  by  the  way,  for  our  sketch  is 
not  yet  completed.  What  remains  we  reserve 
for  another  chapter. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    CENTRAL  PRINCIPLE,  OR  CHRIST  IN  ANCIENT 
RELIGION. 

ONE  of  the  most  interesting  and  well-devel 
oped  religions  of  the  ancient  world,  the  remains 
of  which  yet  linger  in  many  parts  of  Asia,  es 
pecially  in  Persia,  is  that  of  the  Zend-Avesta, 
(Fire-kindler,  or  Living  Word,)  the  sacred  book 
of  the  Parsees,  or  ancient  fire- worshippers.  Con 
siderable  dispute  exists  as  to  the  primitive  form 
of  this  religion,  and  some  apparently  well- 
grounded  doubts  have  been  cast  upon  the  genu 
ineness  of  the  Zend-Avesta.  Many  learned  men, 
however,  allow  it,  in  the  main,  to  be  the  work  or 
compilation  of  their  great  religious  teacher,  Zer- 
dusht,  or  Zoroaster,  who  is  supposed  to  have  flour 
ished  before  the  time  of  Cyrus.  Still  the  work 
is  fragmentary,  consisting  mainly  of  occasional 
institutes,  prayers,  and  other  liturgical  forms. 
Those  most  competent  to  form  an  opinion  say 
that  it  has  the  appearance  of  a  work  consisting 
of  some  original  materials,  with  successive  ad 
ditions  and  emendations.  It  was  brought  origi 
nally  from  India  by  Anquetil  Du  Perron,  by  whom 
6  (61) 


64  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Existence  without  Bounds*)  who,  like  the  Brahm 
of  Indian  pantheism,  seems  to  be  impersonal  and 
incomprehensible,  and  yet  has  some  features  akin 
to  the  One  Eternal  Jehovah  of  the  Hebrew  Scrip 
tures.  He  is  represented  as  the  great  primal 
Cause  or  Creator,  but  appears,  as  Gibbon  and 
others  have  observed,  rather  as  a  metaphysical 
abstraction  (like  the  celebrated  Das  Nichts  of 
Hegel)  than  as  an  active  and  presiding  deity. 
Hence  the  series  of  emanations,  spiritual  and 
material,  divine  and  demoniac,  to  which  the 
supposition  gives  rise. 

It  differs,  however,  from  pantheism,  in  being  a 
system  of  dualism ;  though,  we  confess,  the 
dualism  is  lost  in  what  metaphysicians  would 
call  the  principle  of  a  higher  identity;  so  that, 
as  all  things  flow  from  unity  and  perfection,  all 
return  thither  again.  From  the  original  source 
of  existence,  according  to  the  Zend-Avesta,  sprang 
Ormuzd  and  Ahriman,  the  one  representing  the 
principle  of  good,  the  other  representing  the  prin 
ciple  of  evil.  These,  though  sometimes  spoken 
of  as  created  by  the  Supreme  Deity,  after  all  are 
but  the  development,  as  we  understand  it,  of 
absolute  and  eternal  being.  Both,  indeed,  at  first 


*  Du  Perron  and  Klcukcr  translated  it  "  Time  without  Bounds." 
Van  Bohlen  says  that  it  is  analogous  to  the  Sanscrit,  Sarvam  Aka- 
ranam,  the  Uncreated  Whole.  Fred.  W.  Schlegel  translates  the 
equivalent  expression  as  Unum  Indivisibi/e,  Indivisible  One. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  65 

were  good ;  but  Ahriman,  through  envy  or  some 
other  cause,  fell  into  sin,  and  became  the  repre 
sentative  and  agent  of  evil.  Sometimes  he  is 
spoken  of  as  bad  from  the  beginning,  and  only 
suffered  to  come  into  existence ;  but  in  a  legend 
ary  system  like  this  we  must  expect  some  in 
congruities.  The  idea  of  the  One  God  being 
gradually  lost,  or  retained  as  a  mere  metaphysical 
entity,  Ormuzd  and  Ahriman  were  worshipped 
as  the  supreme  divinities,  from  whom  are  all 
beings  and  all  things,  good  and  bad.  Hence  the 
dualism  and  contest  of  the  universe  ;  but  Ormuzd, 
being  regarded  as  superior  to  Ahriman  weakened 
by  sin,  Ormuzd  will  finally  obtain  the  victory, 
and  introduce  an  eternal  reign  of  righteousness 
and  peace. 

Ormuzd  is  pure,  eternal  light,  the  fount  of  all 
beauty  and  perfection.  He  created,  through 
Honover,  from  an  ethereal  substance,  (like  the 
Hyle  of  Plato,)  the  source  of  air  and  water,  the 
whole  universe,  and  completed  his  work  in  six 
periods.  At  first  he  created  his  own  dwelling, 
the  heaven  of  light,  and  the  pure  spirits  who 
occupy  it.  From  him  are  the  Amschaspands, 
good  angels  and  spirits,  of  whom  there  are  dif 
ferent  orders,  a  sort  of  angelic  or  divine  hierarchy, 
of  which  Ormuzd  is  chief.  One  of  these  is  lord 
of  the  empire  of  light,  king  of  the  universe,  and 
dispenser  of  all  happiness ;  another  is  the  genius 
6* 


66  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

of  fire ;  another  the  lord  of  splendor  and  metals ; 
another  the  source  of  all  fmitfulness  ;  another  the 
genius  of  water  and  of  time ;  and  another  pro 
tector  of  the  vegetable  world,  and  the  cause  of 
growth  in  all  living  things. 

In  the  second  class  of  spirits  which  he  created 
are  the  Izeds,  of  whom  there  are  twenty-eight  of 
both  sexes,  presiding  over  the  elements  and  all 
pure  things.  Among,  these  Mithras,  the  Sun,  is 
the  chief,  being  the  source  of  all  vivifying  and 
fructifying  power. 

All  these,  including  Ormuzd,  and  all  other 
beings,  as  in  the  Platonic  theogony,  have  their 
Feruers,  or  types,  being  ideas  or  emanations  of 
the  eternal  mind  embodied.  These  occupy  the 
world  of  light  where  Ormuzd  dwells,  where  they 
sparkle  with  ineffable  light,  and  constitute  the 
fundamental  idea  of  a  perfect  world.  Every 
emanation  or  creation  of  the  great  central  being 
is  but  the  manifestation,  in  some  palpable  form, 
of  a  new  Feruer.  Each,  too,  constitutes  a  sort 
of  divine  messenger,  with  spreading  wings,  flying 
to  the  protection  of  the  good  whenever  invoked 
by  them. 

The  bad  spirits,  of  which  there  are  various 
orders,  superior  and  inferior,  Devs  and  Archdevs, 
the  impersonations  of  vices,  impurities,  and  all 
noxious  things,  are  from  Ahriman,  who  created 
a  rival  world,  and  opposed  the  reign  of  Ormuzd. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  67 

In  the  mean  while,  Ahriman  being  confined  in 
the  kingdom  of  darkness,  Ormuzd  continued  to 
create  the  outer  world,  with  its  suns  and  stars, 
winds,  clouds,  and  fire,  mountains  and  seas,  veg 
etable  and  animal  life.  He  created  the  bull 
Abudad,  from  whose  blood  all  living  things  have 
sprung. 

The  good  and  happy  spirits  at  first  dwelt  with 
Ormuzd  in  light.  All  were  created  pure,  and  for 
a  long  time  (three  thousand  years)  lived  in  happi 
ness  under  Ormuzd.  At  last  Ahriman,  let  loose, 
attempted  to  storm  the  heavens,  and  being  re 
pulsed,  attacked  the  earth,  and  killed  Abudad; 
but  the  body  of  the  bull  became  the  germ  of  all 
kinds  of  animals  and  of  the  first  man,  whom  also 
the  Devs  put  to  death.  Ormuzd  then  made  a 
plant,  Reivas,  —  "  man  and  woman  combined,"  — 
to  grow  out  of  the  body,  from  which  sprang, 
at  the  end  of  fifteen  years,  fifteen  pairs  of 
human  beings,  the  progenitors  of  the  present 
race. 

Disappointed  in  his  previous  failures,  Ahriman 
sought  now  to  destroy  the  new-made  creation. 
He  blackened  the  fire  with  smoke,  formed  various 
kinds  of  noxious  animals,  and  finally  seduced 
from  their  allegiance  the  human  race.  In  course 
of  time,  he  gained  such  influence  over  them  that 
he  led  them  wholly  to  forsake  the  worship  of 


68  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

Ormuzd,  and  join  the  Devs,  or  Devils,  in  all  their 
practices.* 

Ormuzd,  who  pitied  the  human  race,  sent  to 
them  his  law,  first  by  Horn,  and  then  by  Zerdusht; 
but  the  people  paid  no  regard  to  it,  and  so  Ahri- 
man  remained  victorious  for  three  thousand 
years. 

Ahriman  will  thus  continue  to  reign  until  the 
expiration  of  time,  when  Sosiosh,  the  promised 
Savior  or  Redeemer,  will  come  and  extinguish 
the  powers  of  the  Devs,  raise  the  dead,  and  pro 
nounce  judgment  upon  angels  and  men.  A 

*  The  following  is  a  different  form  of  the  tradition,  and  striking 
ly  akin  to  the  scriptural  account  of  the  origin  and  fall  of  man. 
"  The  world  itself  was  created  dm-ing  five  succcessive  periods,  and 
during  a  sixth  man  himself  received  his  being.  After  his  pro 
duction,  man  enjoyed  a  period  of  innocence  and  happiness  in  an  el 
evated  region,  which  Ormuzd  had  assigned  him.  But  it  was  neces 
sary  to  his  existence  in  this  state  that  he  should  be  humble  of  heart, 
and  humbly  obey  the  divine  ordinances  ;  pure  he  must  be  of  thought, 
pure  of  word,  pure  of  deed.  And  for  a  time  the  first  pair  were  thus 
holy  and  happy.  But  at  last  Ahriman,  the  Evil  One,  appeared  and 
beat  down  their  good  dispositions,  and  under  the  influence  of  his 
glossing  lies,  they  began  to  ascribe  their  blessings  to  him.  Thus 
Ahriman  deceived  them,  and  to  the  end  will  seek  to  deceive.  Em 
boldened  by  this  success,  Ahriman,  the  liar,  presented  himself 
again,  and  brought  with  him  fruit,  of  which  they  ate;  and  in 
that  instant,  of  a  hundred  excellences,  which  they  possessed,  all 
but  one  departed  from  them,  and  they  became  subject  to  misery  and 
death."  Another  statement  compresses  the  legend  into  this  brief 
myth :  "  Ahriman,  after  having  dared  to  visit  heaven,  descended 
to  the  earth,  and  approaching  man  in  the  form  of  a  serpent,  poi 
soned  him  with  venom,  so  that  he  died.  From  that  time,  the  world 
fell  into  confusion.  The  destroyer  mingled  himself  with  every 
thing." 


»  ANCIENT    RELIGION.  69 

general  conflagration,  through  the  casting  down 
of  the  comet  Gurzsher,  will  ensue,  and  the  re 
mains  of  the  world  sink  downwards  into  Duzakh, 
forming  a  place  of  punishment  for  the  wicked. 
After  a  long  lapse  of  time,  Ormuzd  will  have 
compassion  upon  them,  and  admit  to  heaven 
those  who  seek  it  by  penitence  and  prayer. 
Even  Ahriman  and  the  Devs,  after  a  longer 
period  of  punishment,  and  a  proper  submission 
to  Ormuzd,  will  be  admitted  to  the  regions  of 
eternal  day. 

"  The  kingdoms  of  Ormuzd  and  Ahriman," 
says  the  Zend-Avesta,  "  are  in  continual  contest 
with  one  another  ;  but  Ahriman  will  hereafter  be 
conquered ;  the  reign  of  darkness  will  be  alto 
gether  at  an  end ;  the  rule  of  Ormuzd  will  be 
universally  extended  ;  and  an  all-embracing  king 
dom  of  light  will  alone  remain."* 

The  night,  with  its  innumerable  stars,  the 
"  old  eternal  night,"  as  the  Magians  deemed  it, 
was  the  proper  symbol  of  the  great  primal  Cause, 
and  in  early  times,  as  we  have  seen,  was  an 
object  of  religious  homage.  It  was  ever  deemed 
sacred  by  the  Oriental  philosophers,  and  was  the 
principal  season  of  Magi  an  worship.  But  as 
Ormuzd  was  the  fountain  of  light,  the  sun  was 
his  fittest  symbol,  and  in  the  absence  of  the  sun, 

*  The  whole  period  over  which  the  system  passes  is  that  of  twelve 
thousand  years,  subdivided  into  periods  each  of  three  thousand  years. 


70  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

the  sacred  fire,  which  they  kindled  and  kept  con 
stantly  burning  under  the  open  heavens.  Other 
symbols  were  used,  as  the  chariot  and  horses  of 
the  sun,  which  the  ancestors  of  King  Josiah, 
after  the  example  of  the  Mehestani,  or  follow 
ers  of  Zoroaster,  introduced  into  Jerusalem.  The 
sun  was  considered  by  the  Mehestani  the  eye 
of  Ormuzd,  and  next  to  the  Amschaspands,  the 
greatest  of  all  divinities ;  nay,  they  supposed 
him  to  be  the  body  or  residence  of  one  of  them. 
They  described  the  chariot  of  the  sun  as  being 
of  a  white  color,  and  wreathed  garlands  of 
flowers.  The  sacred  horses  were  white  also,  of 
the  Nisean  breed,  and  four  in  number.* 

In  this  way  the  worship  of  the  sun,  the  sacred 
fire,  and  other  symbols,  with  a  host  of  angels  and 
spirits,  usurped  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  and 
must  be  recognized  as  a  form  of  superstition,  in 
the  end  nearly  as  degrading  as  that  of  Jupiter 
or  Apollo. f 

But  how  striking  an  image  or  shadow  of  the 
truth  this  whole  Magian  system !  Blended  with 
errors,  it  yet  reminds  us  of  the  great  and  eternal 
principles  recognized  in  the  pure  theism  of  the 
Scriptures.  But  losing  the  proper  conception 


*  Jahn's  Bib.  Archaeology,  p.  521. 

t  See  Hyde,  Ilistoria  Rdirj.  Vet.  Persariim ;  Du  Perron  and 
Kleuker  on  the  Zend-Avesta;  Rhode,  Hcilige  Sage  der  Zendvolks  ; 
Hitter's  An.  Ph.  1.  p.  51,  et  seq. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  71 

of  the  one  supreme  Jehovah,  lapsing  first  into 
nature-worship,  and  then  into  symbol-worship, 
it  serves  to  prove  not  only  the  indestructible 
religious  tendency  of  man,  but  his  proneness  to 
idolatry,  and  through  idolatry  to  sin.*  Mingling 
with  astrology  and  magic,  the  religion  of  Zoroas 
ter  became  as  monstrous  and  bewildering  as  the 
other  Oriental  superstitions. 

Thus  idolatry,  with  its  equivalent,  nature-wor 
ship  or  demon-worship,  was  introduced  and  per 
petuated  among  some  of  the  most  enlightened 
nations  of  antiquity  ;  and  it  seems  to  be  an  ac 
knowledged  fact,  that,  once  established  in  a  com 
munity,  it  becomes  fixed  there  forever.  Man 
appears  to  possess  no  power  to  deliver  himself 
from  its  terrible  domination.  Hungering  after 
the  divine,  he  knows  it  not.  By  a  necessary 
descent  into  error  "  he  changes  the  glory  of  the 
incorruptible  God  into  an  image  made  like  to 
corruptible  man,  and  to  birds,  and  four-footed 
beasts,  and  creeping  things." 


*  By  idolatry  here,  we  do  not  mean  the  formal  worship  of  idols, 
from  which  the  Parsees  are  free,  but  idolatry  in  its  essence,  which 
is  the  substitution  in  the  place  of  God,  of  any  beings  or  things,  as 
objects  of  adoration. 

•j-  The  case  of  the  Arabians  under  Mohammed  is  no  exception. 
Accepting  the  Old  Testament  revelation  as  to  the  unity  of  God, 
and  acknowledging  the  divine  mission  of  Moses  and  of  Christ,  Mo 
hammed  availed  himself  of  extraneous  aid  to  banish  idolatry  from 
his  system. 


72  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

With  the  elements  of  superstition  thus  engen 
dered,  were  mingled  from  time  to  time,  both 
among  the  nations  of  the  east  and  of  the  west, 
the  ideals  and  fictions  of  poetry,  the  forebodings 
of  fear,  and  the  delusions  of  oracular  divination. 
Every  where  man  felt  and  acknowledged  his 
guilt,  and  longed  for  expiation  and'  deliverance. 
Victims  bled  upon  ten  thousand  heathen  altars. 
Life  was  given  for  life,  as  an  avowal  of  its  for 
feiture  by  sin.  Designing  men,  of  course,  took 
advantage  of  the  popular  belief,  and  dreams, 
portents,  prodigies,  oracles,  were  rapidly  accu 
mulated.  To  gratify  human  pride,  never  extin 
guished  even  by  a  sense  of  guilt,  and  yet  meet 
the  natural  longing  for  a  godlike  form  of  man, 
as  the  most  beautiful  symbol,  perhaps  dwelling 
of  the  divine,  and  especially  to  extend  the  influ 
ence  of  the  priesthood,  heroes  and  sages  were 
elevated  to  the  celestial  regions  and  adored  as 
divinities.  Nor  was  this  so  unnatural  as  many 
suppose  ;  for  who  more  likely  to  be  transformed 
into  divinities  than  those  who  had  done  nobly 
for  their  race  ?  Every  hill,  valley,  and  stream, 
every  house  and  craft,  must  have  its  tutelary  god. 
The  woods  were  filled,  as  in  Greece,  where  the 
popular  superstition  was  somewhat  elegant  and 
cheerful,  though  profoundly  sensual,  with  nymphs, 
fauns,  and  satyrs ;  the  air  was  replenished  with 
genii,  the  ocean  with  nereids  and  tritons.  All 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  1?) 

nature  throbbed  with  spiritual  forms,  some  beau 
tiful  and  good,  but  many  dark  and  malignant. 
Poetry  and  passion,  selfishness  and  even  lust, 
venerable  usage  and  the  traditions  of  "  eld,"  all 
combined  to  consolidate  and  extend  the  bewil 
dering  error.  The  dim  notions  of  a  supreme 
Numen,  or  Deity,  to  which  we  have  referred,  were 
overborne  by  universal  superstition.  So  that 
neither  in  Assyria,  Persia,  India,  Egypt,  nor 
Greece,  during  any  historical  period  with  which 
the  moderns  are  familiar,  was  any  general  or  in 
telligent  worship  paid  to  the  eternal  God.  If 
recognized  at  all,  it  was  only  as  primus  inter 
pares,  or  as  the  changeless  essence,  the  absolute 
and  incomprehensible  fountain  of  gods  and  men. 
With  the  single  exception  of  "  the  chosen  peo 
ple,"  themselves  at  first  idolaters,  the  whole 
ancient  world  fell  under  the  curse  of  idolatry,  or 
nature-worship,  and  instead  of  casting  off  the 
baleful  incubus,  only  sank,  during  the  lapse  of 
ages,  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  abyss.* 

Where  a  moral  and  prudential  code  was  the 
principal  aim,  as  in  the  case  of  Confucius,  (Con- 
futse,  or  rather  Chung-Tse,)  the  great  religious 
teacher  of  China,  who  seems  to  have  cherished 
but  a  comparatively  feeble  idea  of  an  invisible 
and  eternal  state,  superstition  elevated  the  master 
to  the  place  of  God,  and  adopted  him  as  "  the 

*"  See  Appendix,  Note  A,  at  the  close  of  the  volume. 

7 


74  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

way,  the  truth,  and  the  life."  But  Budhism,  and 
in  many  instances  the  lowest  Fetichism,  became 
the  prevalent  superstition  of  the  Celestial  Empire.* 
So  that  every  where  men  "  worshipped  and 
served  the  creature  more  than  the  Creator,  who 
is  God  over  all,  blessed  forever." 

Among  the  Oriental  nations,  grand,  massive 
and  immovable,  like  the  vast  plains  or  lofty 
mountain  ranges  of  that  part  of  the  world,  the 

*  The  original  religion  of  China  was  a  sort  of  nature-worship, 
based,  as  F.  W.  Schlegel  thinks,  upon  the  unity  of  God.  Tian, 
•who  represented  the  heavens,  was  their  principal  deity.  Other 
spirits,  presiding  over  the  earth,  the  stars,  the  winds,  &c.,  with  the 
souls  of  deceased  ancestors,  were  adored.  Lao-Tse  first  reformed, 
or  perhaps  corrupted,  this  religion,  by  a  modification  of  Lamaism, 
which  he  found  in  Thibet.  He  inculcated  a  sort  of  stoical  indiffer 
ence  and  serenity;  but  his  system  is  Epicurean  as  a  whole.  It  is 
idolatrous,  and  yet  it  is  sceptical.  The  higher  classes  in  China  arc 
its  votaries.  But  Chung-Tse,  or  Confucius,  as  we  call  him,  is  the 
great  teacher  of  the  Chinese.  He  endeavored  to  bring  back  the 
people  to  the  religion  of  their  fathers,  but  his  chief  object  was  to 
inculcate  moral  principles,  among  which  are  sobriety,  prudence, 
reverence  for  superiors,  justice,  and  obedience  to  the  laws.  He 
recognized  a  great  first  Cause,  but  only  as  an  impersonal  principle, 
or  power,  from  which  emanated  Yang  and  Yen,  the  one  the  perfect 
principle,  and  of  the  masculine  gender,  and  the  other  the  imperfect, 
and  of  the  feminine  gender,  from  whom  are  all  things.  Confucius 
forbade  his  followers  to  make  images  of  the  supreme  Cause,  and  con 
joined  with  his  worship  the  adoration  of  the  elements,  which  he 
comprised  under  the  name  of  Tien,  heaven.  But  Confucius  himself, 
or  his  tablet,  and  deceased  ancestors,  are  the  chief  objects  of  rever 
ence  among  his  followers.  The  great  body  of  the  people,  however,  in 
cluding  the  emperor  and  court,  arc  Budhists.  Foism,  another  name 
for  Budhism^  Lamaism,  also  a  modification  of  Budhism,  and  Fetich- 
ism,  the  lowest  form  of  idolatry,  are  spread  over  the  whole  of  India 
bcvond  the  Ganges. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  75 

forms  of  idolatry  were  more  fixed  and  perma 
nent.  In  Greece  and  Rome,  and  even  in  Egypt, 
and  some  parts  of  Western  Asia,  they  were  quite 
variable.  The  spirit  of  doubt  and  inquiry  al 
ways  actuated  the  Grecian  mind.  Some  of  the 
acutest  intellects  doubted  the  popular  myths 
even  as  early  as  the  times  of  Plato  and  Aristotle. 
Socrates,  it  is  evident,  though  not  entirely  free 
from  the  common  influence,  perhaps  saw  through 
them,  while  recognizing  their  great  underlying 
truths.*  He  was  averse,  however,  to  the  de 
structive  spirit  of  some  of  the  sophists,  who  made 
them  a  subject  of  ridicule.  Feeling  the  necessity 
of  faith  in  a  supreme  Power,  it  was  his  aim,  by 
means  of  some  of  the  more  legitimate  and  beau- 

O 

tiful  myths,  to  rise  into  a  higher  sphere.  Plaio 
frequently  uses  the  vulgar  superstitions  as  illus 
trations  of  his  grand  and  thrilling  conceptions. 
Aristotle  says  expressly,  u  It  has  been  handed 
down  to  us  in  a  mythical  form,  from  the  remotest 
times,  that  there  are  gods,  and  that  the  divine 
(TO  Oeiov,  the  divinity)  compasses  entire  nature.f 
All  beside  this  has  been  added  after  the  mythical 

*  Wo  say  perhaps  here,  for  much,  put  into  the  mouth  of  Socrates 
in  the  Platonic  dialogues  is  to  be  ascribed  rather  to  the  scholar  than  to 
the  master.  Socrates  himself,  as  reported  in  Plato's  Apologia,  averred 
his  belief  in  the  popular  religion.  In  practice,  he  sedulously  wor 
shipped  the  national  gods.  He  taught  nothing  inconsistent  with 
polytheism. 

f  The  word  Otiov  here  translated  the  divine,  is  elsewhere  used  by 
Aristotle  as  equivalent  to  Oeoj,  the  supreme  divinity. 


76  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

style,  for  the  sake  of  persuading  the  multitudes, 
and  for  the  interest  of  the  laws  and  the  advan 
tage  of  the  state.  Thus  men  have  given  to  the 
gods  human  forms,  and  have  even  represented 
them  under  the  figure  of  other  beings,  in  the 
train  of  which  fictions  followed  more  of  the  same 
sort.  But  if  we  separate  from  all  this  the  origi 
nal  principle,  and  consider  it  alone,  namely,  that 
the  first  essences  are  gods,  [divine,]  we  shall  find 
that  this  has  been  divinely  said  ;  and  since  it  is 
probable  that  philosophy  and  the  arts  have  been 
several  times,  so  far  as  that  is  possible,  lost,  such 
doctrines  may  have  been  preserved  to  our  times, 
as  the  remains  of  ancient  wisdom." 

At  last,  both  in  Greece  and  in  Rome,  the  popu 
lar  mythology  lost  its  hold  at  once  of  the  more 
cultivated  and  the  common  intellect.  The  doubts 
of  the  philosophers  diffused  themselves  among 
the  vulgar.  Although  religion,  as  such,  could  not 
altogether  be  abandoned,  it  is  evident  that  the 
people  generally  had  outgrown  the  crude  mytho 
logical  faith  of  their  fathers.  The  conduct  of 
the  gods,  as  well  it  might,  became  a  standing 
joke  to  the  comic  writers,  and  multitudes  of  all 
classes  fell  into  blank  atheism. 

Hence  the  great  problem  of  serious  and  can 
did  minds  was  to  find,  either  in  connection  with 

*  Quoted  by  Neandcr  from  Aristotle's  Metaphysics. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  77 

the  myths,  or  back  of  them,  some  fundamental 
ground  of  belief.  The  populace  indeed  fell  into 
vice,  or  hankered  after  new  superstitions,  but 
thinkers  and  moralists  longed  for  principles. 
Some  endeavored  to  rest  upon  the  idea  of  a  su 
preme  Cause  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
though  both  of  these  truths  were  only  imperfectly 
conceived,  and  not  always  fully  realized  even  by 
the  best  minds.  Cicero  himself,  in  his  De  Natura 
Deorum,  though  believing  in  a  supreme  Power, 
and  affirming  the  necessity  of  religion,  often 
seems  at  a  loss  what  to  believe  respecting  the 
gods,  and  refers  to  the  perplexity  of  others  upon 
the  same  subject.  His  writings,  while  theistic 
as  a  whole,  abound  in  academic  doubts.  Quite 
a  number  fell  into  a  sort  of  natural  pantheism, 
and  resigned  themselves  to  The  All,  whence 
they  had  come  and  whither  they  must  return. 
Stoicism,  with  its  stern  indifference,  often  as 
sumed  this  attitude.  Many  strong  minds  lapsed 
into  despair.  Denying  the  value  of  all  religion 
as  superstition  or  fancy,  they  saw  nothing  in  the 
universe  but  an  eternal  cycle  (xrfxAo.?)  or  circular 
succession  of  changes,  in  which  by  and  by  they 
must  forever  be  ingulfed.  Man  appeared  like 
a  vexed  bubble  upon  the  heaving  tide,  now  in 
sunshine,  then  in  shadow,  and  anon  broken 
and  forever  lost.  "  All  religion,"  says  the  elder 
Pliny,  with  Epicurean  scorn,  "  is  the  offspring  of 
7* 


76  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

style,  for  the  sake  of  persuading  the  multitudes, 
and  for  the  interest  of  the  laws  and  the  advan 
tage  of  the  state.  Thus  men  have  given  to  the 
gods  human  forms,  and  have  even  represented 
them  under  the  figure  of  other  beings,  in  the 
train  of  which  fictions  followed  more  of  the  same 
sort.  But  if  we  separate  from  all  this  the  origi 
nal  principle,  and  consider  it  alone,  namely,  that 
the  first  essences  are  gods,  [divine,]  we  shall  find 
that  this  has  been  divinely  said  ;  and  since  it  is 
probable  that  philosophy  and  the  arts  have  been 
several  times,  so  far  as  that  is  possible,  lost,  such 
doctrines  may  have  been  preserved  to  our  times, 
as  the  remains  of  ancient  wisdom." 

At  last,  both  in  Greece  and  in  Rome,  the  popu 
lar  mythology  lost  its  hold  at  once  of  the  more 
cultivated  and  the  common  intellect.  The  doubts 
of  the  philosophers  diffused  themselves  among 
the  vulgar.  Although  religion,  as  such,  could  not 
altogether  be  abandoned,  it  is  evident  that  the 
people  generally  had  outgrown  the  crude  mytho 
logical  faith  of  their  fathers.  The  conduct  of 
the  gods,  as  well  it  might,  became  a  standing- 
joke  to  the  comic  writers,  and  multitudes  of  all 
classes  fell  into  blank  atheism. 

Hence  the  great  problem  of  serious  and  can 
did  minds  was  to  find,  either  in  connection  with 

*  Quoted  by  Ncaudcr  from  Aristotle's  Metaphysics. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  77 

the  myths,  or  back  of  them,  some  fundamental 
ground  of  belief.  The  populace  indeed  fell  into 
vice,  or  hankered  after  new  superstitions,  but 
thinkers  and  moralists  longed  for  principles. 
Some  endeavored  to  rest  upon  the  idea  of  a  su 
preme  Cause  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
though  both  of  these  truths  were  only  imperfectly 
conceived,  and  not  always  fully  realized  even  by 
the  best  minds.  Cicero  himself,  in  his  De  Natura 
Deomm,  though  believing  in  a  supreme  Power, 
and  affirming  the  necessity  of  religion,  often 
seems  at  a  loss  what  to  believe  respecting  the 
gods,  and  refers  to  the  perplexity  of  others  upon 
the  same  subject.  His  writings,  while  theistic 
as  a  whole,  abound  in  academic  doubts.  Quite 
a  number  fell  into  a  sort  of  natural  pantheism, 
and  resigned  themselves  to  The  All,  whence 
they  had  come  and  whither  they  must  return. 
Stoicism,  with  its  stern  indifference,  often  as 
sumed  this  attitude.  Many  strong  minds  lapsed 
into  despair.  Denying  the  value  of  all  religion 
as  superstition  or  fancy,  they  saw  nothing  in  the 
universe  but  an  eternal  cycle  (fcrfxAog)  or  circular 
succession  of  changes,  in  which  by  and  by  they 
must  forever  be  ingulfed.  Man  appeared  like 
a  vexed  bubble  upon  the  heaving  tide,  now  in 
sunshine,  then  in  shadow,  and  anon  broken 
and  forever  lost.  "  All  religion,"  says  the  elder 

Pliny,  with  Epicurean  scorn,  "  is  the  offspring  of 

7* 


78  CHItlST    IN    HISTORY. 

necessity,  weakness,  and  fear.  What  God  is,  if 
in  truth  he  be  any  thing  distinct  from  the  world, 
it  is  beyond  the  compass  of  man's  under 
standing  to  know.  But  it  is  a  foolish  delusion, 
which  has  sprung  from  human  weakness  and 
pride,  to  imagine  that  such  an  infinite  Spirit 
would  concern  himself  with  the  petty  affairs  of 
men.  .  .  .  The  vanity  of  man,  and  his  in 
satiable  longing  after  existence,  have  led  him 
also  to  dream  of  a  life  after  death.  A  being  full 
of  contradictions,  he  is  the  most  wretched  of 
creatures  ;  since  the  other  creatures  have  no 
wants  transcending  the  bounds  of  their  nature. 
Man  is  full  of  desires  and  wants  that  reach  to 
infinity,  and  can  never  be  satisfied.  His  nature 
is  a  lie,  —  uniting  the  greatest  poverty  with  the 
greatest  pride.  Among  these  so  great  evils,  the 
best  thing  God  has  bestowed  upon  man  is  the 
power  of  taking  his  own  life."  4  It  was  in  this 
temper,  that  Pliny  was  willing  to  perish  under 
the  ashes  of  Vesuvius. 

Others,  however,  could  not  be  satisfied  with 
doub't ;  and  so  they  tried  to  solve,  as  best  they 
could,  the  strange  enigma  and  contradiction  of 
human  nature.  They  could  not  altogether  be 
lieve,  neither  could  they  altogether  renounce  reli 
gion.  Some,  as  Euemerus,  resolved  all  mythology 

*  Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.  ii.  4,  apud  Ncander,  Ch.  Hist.  i.  10. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  70 

into  a  poetical  history  of  nature  or  of  society ;  while 
others,  like  Plutarch,  saw  in  it  the  corruption  of 
a  purer  faith,  though  without  the  power  of  real 
izing  fully  their  own  grand  and  beautiful  idea. 
Many  sought  refuge  in  foreign  opinions  and 
usages,  though  not  with  much  satisfaction  ;  and 
a  few  insisted,  that,  while  superstitions  ought 
to  be  abandoned,  religion,  of  whose  divine  beau 
ty  they  had  some  conception,  was  good  and  true. 
Seneca  recommended  his  disciples  to  worship 
the  gods,  as  a  thing  due  to  good  manners,  but 
to  rely  upon  something  else  as  a  ground  of  con 
viction  and  hope  in  reference  to  duty  and  destiny. 
It  thus  came  to  pass  that  ingenuous  inquirers 
after  truth  hardly  knew  what  to  believe,  or  what 
to  disbelieve,  in  perusing  the  writings  or  attend 
ing  the  teachings  of  the  so  called  philosophers. 
Some  plunged  irremediably  into  the  prevalent 
Epicureanism,  and  so  lived  for  the  hour.  Others 
committed  suicide,  or  willingly  lost  their  lives  in 
battle  ;  while  others,  like  Clemens  Romanus  and 
Justin  Martyr,  alternated  constantly  between 
belief  and  unbelief,  hope  and  despair.  They  went 
from  the  Peripatetics  to  the  Stoics,  and  from  the 
Stoics  to  the  Platonics,  but  all  seemed  to  them 
confusion,  contradiction,  and  doubt.* 

*  Is  this  wonderful  when  even  Xenophanes,  whose  sublime  ac 
knowledgment  of  the  one  God  we  have  already  quoted,  found  in  the 
little  he  knew  only  doubt  and  difficulty  ?  His  state  of  mind  is  strik- 


80  CHRIST    IN    HISTOIIY. 

This,  in  fact,  was  the  period  of  transition,  when 
paganism,  incapable  of  emancipating  itself,  pro 
claimed  its  vanity  and  weakness,  and  yet  gave 
incontestable  token  of  "  man's  old  eternal  want." 

For  in  all  ages,  amid  error  and  superstition,  cer 
tain  elder  truths,  certain  instinctive  convictions, 
maintained  their  place  with  more  or  less  per 
sistence.  The  idea  of  worship,  of  dependence 
upon  spiritual  powers,  of  obligation  to  the  divine, 
the  hope  or  dread  of  a  future  state,  figured  under 
the  dream  of  Tartarus  and  the  Elysian  Fields,  the 
necessity  of  mediation  and  atonement,  of  reunion 
and  eternal  life  in  the  bosom  of  God,  were  never 
altogether  lost.  Often  the  night  was  dark  and 
portentous  ;  but  anon  the  everlasting  stars  were 
visible  in  the  heavens.  Nay,  the  hope  of  some 
spiritual  deliverer,  especially  among  the  more 
thoughtful  nations,  the  longing  for  a  divine 
Teacher,  to  which  reference  may  be  found  in 

ingly  described  by  Timon,  the  Sillograph,  who  puts  into  the  mouth 
of  Xenophanes  these  words  :  — 

"  O  that  mine  were  the  deep  mind,  prudent,  and  looking  to  both 

sides ! 

Long,  alas  !   have  I  strayed  on  the  road  of  error,  beguiled, 
And  am  now  hoary  of  years,  yet  exposed  to  doubt  and  destruction 
Of  all  kinds  ;   for,  wherever  I  turn  to  consider, 
I  am  lost  in  the  One  and  All." 

The  difficulty  with  Xenophanes  lay  in  his  pantheism,  or  rather  his 
inability  to  distinguish  between  the  oxi;  and  the  ALL.  See  Hitter, 
Hist,  of  Ph.  i.  443. 


ANCIENT    RELIGION.  81 

Plato,*  some  mighty  Redeemer,  Son  of  God,  or 
Savior  of  man,  developed  itself,  with  more  or 
less  significance,  through  the  long  lapse  of  ages. 
The  sun  had  not  yet  risen,  but  lights  were  gleam 
ing  at  distant  intervals,  relieving  the  terrible 
gloom  of  the  long  polar  night,  or  heralding  the 
dawn  of  the  approaching  day.f 

It  might  be  desirable  in  this  connection  to  trace 
the  origin  and  transmission  of  the  great  primeval 
faith,  scattered  in  "  sporadic  revelations,"  as  Ne- 
ander  aptly  calls  them,  or  in  traditional  frag 
ments,  among  all  the  nations,  from  the  first  Eden 
down  through  the  antediluvian  believers,  the 
Seths  and  Enochs  of  that  early  time,  and  sub 
sequently  through  the  patriarchs  and  prophets, 
with  other  saintly  and  priestly  men  of  the  post 
diluvian  age ;  the  Noahs,  the  Abrahams,  the 
Melchisedecs,  the  Jobs,  and  the  Moseses  of  an 
cient  inspiration ;  but  this  we  defer  for  the  pres 
ent,  which  we  do  the  more  readily  from  the  fact 
that  the  subject  is  somewhat  familiar  to  all.  Our 
knowledge  of  the  Adamic  and  patriarchal  ages  is 
derived  exclusively  from  the  Scriptures,  whose 


*  In  the  Second  Alcibiades  and  elsewhere.  Sec  Dr.  Lewis's  Pla 
tonic  Theology,  pp.  367,  368. 

•f-  Those  who  wish  to  see  this  idea  carried  out,  and  more  amply  dis 
cussed,  are  referred  to  Trench's  Hulsean  Lectures,  where  the  "  un 
conscious  prophecies  of  heathenism"  are  cited  and  discussed  with 
much  candor  and  ability. 


82  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

simple  annals  bring  down  the  history  of  true  re 
ligion  from  its  first  revelation  in  Paradise  to  its 
final  establishment  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

In  the  mean  while  we  will  devote  a  chapter  to 
the  consideration  of  ancient  philosophy,  as  culti 
vated  among  the  more  enlightened  heathen  na 
tions,  as  an  element  of  progress,  and  a  prepara 
tion  for  Christ. 


CHAPTER    IV.* 

THE  CENTRAL  IDEA,   OK  CIIKIST  IN  ANCIENT 
PHILOSOPHY. 

THE  human  mind  is  under  the  necessity  of 
bringing  all  things  into  unity  :  it  is  itself  a  unit ; 
nature  therefore  must  appear  to  it  as  a  unit,  or 
universe.  Again,  each  man,  as  well  as  each  so 
ciety,  and  of  course  the  entire  race,  stands,  so  to 
speak,  between  two  infinites,  or  two  eternities  ; 
though  these  are  only  one,  in  which  we  are  em 
bosomed,  like  islands  in  a  boundless  sea.  And 
as  nothing  can  happen  without  the  supposition 
of  an  adequate  cause,  mankind  must  ascribe  their 
origin  to  the  One  Supreme  Power,  whether  named 
Mind,  Heason,  Spirit,  Creator,  or  God. 

Thus  man,  the  moment  he  begins  to  reflect 
profoundly,  finds  himself  pressed  on  all  sides  by 
the  idea  of  the  Infinite  and  Eternal.  Thought 
presupposes  and  necessitates  this  idea.  It  be 
gins  with  this,  ends  with  this ;  for  it  ever  starts 
from  a  limit,  as  it  comes  to  a  limit,  beyond 
which  it  must  acknowledge  the  presence  of 

*  This  chapter,  with  some  modifications,  was  published  as  an  arti 
cle  in  the  January  number  of  the  Christian  Review  for  1853. 

(83) 


84  CHRIST    TX    HISTORY. 

absolute  and  eternal  being ;  precisely  as  a  part 
begins  with  a  whole,  ends  with  a  whole.  The 
segment  of  a  circle,  nay,  its  slightest  line  or  ra 
dius,  presupposes  the  existence  of  that  circle ; 
time  presupposes  eternity  ;  the  mind  of  man  pre 
supposes  the  rnind  of  God.  For  if  there  be  a 
finite,  there  must  also  be  an  infinite  mind.  The 
temporary  thought  of  man  necessitates  the  eter 
nal  thought  of  God.  This  is  the  mysterious  cir 
cle,  within  which,  whether  he  sees  it  or  not,  all 
the  reasonings  of  man  revolve. 

There  are  those,  indeed,  who,  in  their  investi 
gations,  keep  assiduously  within  the  fragmentary 
and  mechanical ;  notwithstanding  their  inquiries 
are  always  coming  to  a  limit,  beyond  which  may 
be  descried  that  infinite  ocean  into  which  they  so 
much  fear  to  plunge.  As  finite  rninds  they  lean 
upon  God  and  eternity,  as  all  their  science,  else 
limited  and  perishable,  leans  upon  God  and 
eternity,  even  at  the  moment  that  they  hesitate 
to  acknowledge  the  stupendous  fact.  Their 
philosophy,  however,  is  shallow  and  transient ; 
and  though  liseful  perhaps  to  material  interests, 
leaves  them  without  any  real  beauty  or  grandeur 
of  thought. 

But  the  great  majority  of  thinkers  will  con 
stantly  transcend  such  narrow  bounds,  and  press 
the  inquiry,  Whence  are  we,  and  whither  do  ive 
go? 


ANCIENT    PHILOSOPHY.  85 

This  is  the  real  origin  of  speculative  philosophy, 
especially  in  its  higher  range  —  a  philosophy  ever 
soliciting  attention,  ever  attracting  thinkers.  The 
ocean  of  thought,  indeed,  is  boundless,  and  many 
swift  ships  go  down  into  its  mysterious  depths ; 
nevertheless  all  human  souls,  freighted  with  any 
great  ideas,  must  sail  thereupon.  Shore  or  no 
shore,  they  must  adventure  their  all  upon  its 
heaving  billows.  Hence  one  of  the  most  interest 
ing  elements  of  ancient  civilization,  especially  in 
the  more  enlightened  communities,  is  speculative 
philosophy.  Its  relation  to  Christ,  though  hinted 
at  already,  deserves  our  candid  consideration. 

The  early  fathers  of  the  church,  Justin  Mar 
tyr,  Clement  of  .Alexandria,  the  author  of  the 
Epistle  to  Diognctus,  (sometimes  ascribed  to 
Justin  Martyr,  but  assigned,  by  Semisch  and 
Neander,  to  another,)  Tertullian,  Origen,  and 
others,  while  acknowledging  its  obvious  defects, 
allow  that  it  embodied  portions  of  the  truth,  and 
formed  a  preparation  for  Christ.  The  apostle 
Paul  himself  refers  to  the  manifestation  of  God 
in  the  mind  of  the  heathen,  as  rendering  them 
"without  excuse"  in  departing  from  the  truth. 
"Because  that  which  may  be  known  of  God  is 
manifest  in  them ;  for  God  hath  showed  it  unto 
them;  for  the  invisible  things  of  him  from  the 
creation  of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being 
understood  by  the  things  that  are  made,  even 
8 


86  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

his  eternal  power  and  godhead  ;  so  that  they  are 
without  excuse."  *  He  affirms,  indeed,  in  another 
place,  that  "the  world  ,by  wisdom  knew  not 
God,"  that  is,  adequately  and  satisfactorily ;  for, 
after  all,  philosophy,  especially  in  its  later  develop 
ments,  was  a  failure.  It  gave  no  rest  to  the  weary 
conscience  of  man,  and  left  the  way  of  life  in  the 
greatest  obscurity.  Still  it  nourished  a  few  great 
characters,  and  produced  a  dim  and  often  passion 
ate  longing  for  a  higher  light.  Some  pious  and 
learned  men  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  regard 
Socrates,  Plato,  Plutarch,  and  some  others,  as  a 
sort  of  Christians  by  anticipation.  So  charmed 
was  Erasmus  with  the  character  of  Socrates,  that 
we  find  him  on  one  occasion  exclaiming,  Sancte 
Socrates,  ora  pro  nobis  ! 

This,  doubtless,  is  carrying  the  matter  too  far; 
nevertheless,  it  must  be  allowed  that  many  of  the 
Grecian  sages,  considering  their  circumstances, 
made  some  remarkable  approximations  to  the 
central  truths  of  the  divine  unity  and  supremacy, 
and  the  possibility,  on  the  part  of  man,  of  union 
and  fellowship  with  God.  In  his  Stromata, 
Clement  of  Alexandria  uses  the  following  re 
markable  language  :  "  Indeed,  before  the  coming 
of  the  Lord,  philosophy  was  needful  to  the 
Greeks,  for  the  reformation  of  their  lives;  and 

*  Rom.  chap.  i.  v.  19,  20. 


ANCIENT    PHILOSOPHY.  87 

even  now  it  is  an  aid  to  piety,  supplying,  as  it 
does,  some  rudimentary  teaching  for  those  who 
subsequently  may  receive  the  faith  upon  convic 
tion.  For  God  is,  indeed,  the  cause  of  all  good 
things,  of  some  preeminently  and  directly,  as  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments ;  of  others  in 
directly,  by  means  of  reason  and  argument ;  as 
philosophy,  which  he  probably  gave  to  the  Greeks 
before  the  Lord  himself  came,  in  order  to  call 
them  also  to  his  service.  For  philosophy  acted 
the  part  of  a  schoolmaster  to  the  Greeks,  as  the 
law  of  Moses  did  to  the  Jews,  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  men  to  Christ,  and  thus  preparing  the 
way  for  such  as  were  to  be  advanced  by  him  to 
perfection."  * 

It  is  well  known  that  the  philosophical  systems 
of  the  ancient  world,  often  meagre,  as  well  as 
variant  and  contradictory,  generally  revolved 
around  the  idea  of  the  Infinite,  and  in  their 
higher  forms  recognized  the  existence  of  a 
supreme  Intelligence,  and  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.f  It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed 
that  speculative  inquiry,  in  any  age,  grasped 
fully  these  great  truths,  or  held  them  for  any 
length  of  time  with  persistent  consistency. 

*  Stromata,  lib.  i.  c.  v. 

•f  The  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  however,  in  their 
view,  was  always  associated  with  that  of  the  metempsychosis.  See 
Hitter's  History  of  Ancient  Philosophy,  i.  p.  156. 


88  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

It  is  possible,  however,  that,  in  all  ages,  frag 
ments  of  primitive  revelation  have  been  floating 
about  in  the  common  mind.  God  has  never, 
in  this  respect,  left  himself  without  a  witness  ; 
and  who  shall  say  that  some  special  divine  in 
fluence  may  not  have  been  exerted  upon  the 
minds  of  certain  thoughtful  and  virtuous  men 
among  the  heathen  ?  Still,  ancient  philosophy 
never  assumed  any  thing  like  a  perfect  or  per 
manent  form,  and  certainly  never  discovered  the 
great  truths  of  what  is  called  "  natural  religion," 
except  by  occasional  glimpses  and  irradiations. 

It  will  be  allowed  that  the  views  of  none  ever 
rose  higher  than  those  of  Socrates  and  Plato. 
In  them,  ancient  philosophy  gained  its  culminat 
ing  point.  And  yet  Plato  himself  must  have 
regarded  his  inquiries  as  only  the  beginnings  of 
a  speculative  system.  Every  one,  familiar  with 
his  writings,  must  be  struck  with  their  variant 
and  fragmentary  character.  His  modes  of  rea 
soning  arc  far  from  uniform ;  his  opinions  by  no 
means  coherent.  A  thousand  questions  are  started 
without  an  attempt  at  solution.  Many  are  left 
purposely  obscure,  as  if  for  the  sake  of  confounding 
inquiry.*  Portions  of  his  works  are  clearly  myth- 

*  This  is  strikingly  exemplified  in  the  Thecctetos,  where  his  at 
tempts  to  define  science  seem  to  fail.  It  is  true  that  with  Flat<? 
science  is  the  real,  the  essential,  the  permanent;  but  the  question 
recurs,  What  is  the  real,  the  essential,  the  permanent  ? 


ANCIENT   PHILOSOPHY.  89 

ical,  yet  how  far  believed  by  himself  is  an  unset 
tled  question.  At  times  he  despairs  of  any  but 
a  few  philosophical  spirits  arriving  at  the  truth. 
He  feels  that  none  can  reach  the  knowledge  of 
the  absolute  and  ineffable  Essence,  from  whom 
are  all  things.  Hence  his  mournful  confession, 
"  To  discover  then  the  Creator  and  Father  of 
this  universe,  as  well  as  his  work,  is  indeed 
difficult,  and  when  discovered,  it  is  impossible 
to  reveal  him  to  mankind  at  large."  * 

Still,  Plato  did  teach,  in  forms  more  or  less 
perfect,  the  existence  of  an  infinite  God,  and  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  insisting  strongly  and 
often  beautifully  on  its  high  capacity  for  virtue 
and  everlasting  life.  Socrates,  as  an  interlocutor 
in  the  Platonic  dialogues,  declares  his  belief  of 
this  consolatory  doctrine.  In  his  last  hours  he 
referred  to  it,  and  died,  apparently,  in  the  hope 
of  a  better  world.  We  say  apparently,  for  he 
certainly  does  not  express  the  profound  assur 
ance  and  joyful  expectation  which  a  Christian 
is  permitted  to  cherish.  On  other  occasions  he 
defends  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  as  a  specu 
lative  tenet;  but  here  he  admits  the  possibility 
of  a  doubt.  He  seems  like  one  "treading  the 

O 

common  path  into  the  great  darkness,"  hoping 
to  find  a  home,  yet  not  knowing  whether  even  "  a 

*  Timeeus,  c.  viii.     Compare  Rcpub.  vi.  p.  508. 

8* 


90  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

thread "   of  consciousness   will   remain  "  to  tell 
how  still  it  is." 

"  We  may  hence  conclude,"  he  says,  "  that 
there  is  great  hope  that  death  is  a  blessing.  For 
to  die  is  one  of  two  things  ;  for  either  the  dead 
may  be  annihilated,  and  have  no  sensation  of 
any  thing  whatever,  or,  as  it  is  said,  there  is  a 
certain  change  and  passage  of  the  soul  from  one 
place  to  another.  And  if  it  is  a  privation  of  all 
sensation,  as  it  were  a  sleep,  in  which  the  sleeper 
has  no  dream,  death  would  be  a  wonderful  gain.* 
For  I  think  that  if  any  one,  having  selected  a 
night  in  which  he  slept  so  soundly  as  not  to 
have  had  a  dream,  and  having  compared  this 
night  with  all  the  other  nights  and  days  of  his 
life,  should  be  required  on  reflection  to  say  how 
many  he  had  passed  better  or  more  pleasantly 
than  this,  I  think  that  not  only  a  private  person, 
but  the  great  king  himself,  would  find  them  easy 
to  number,  in  comparison  with  other  days  and 
nights.  If,  therefore,  death  is  such  a  thing,  I 
say  it  is  a  gain  ;  for  thus  all  futurity  appears 
only  as  a  single  night.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
death  is  a  removal  hence  to  some  other  place, 
and  what  is  said  be  true,  that  all  the  dead  are 
there,  what  greater  blessing  can  there  be  than 
this,  my  judges  ?  For  if,  on  arriving  at  Hades, 

*  The  Italics  are  oitrs. 


ANCIENT    PHILOSOPHY.  91 

released  from  those  who  pretend  to  be  judges, 
one  shall  find  those  that  are  true  judges,  and 
who  are  said  to  judge  there,  Minos  and  Rhada- 
manthus,  ^Eacus  and  Triptolemus,  and  such 
others  of  the  demigods  as  were  just  during  their 
own  lives,  would  this  be  a  sad  removal  ?  At 
what  price  would  you  not  estimate  a  conference 
with  Orpheus  and  Musaeus,  Hesiod  and  Homer  ? 
I  indeed  should  be  willing  to  die  often,  were  this 
true.  Most  admirable  would  it  be  for  me  to  so 
journ  there,  where  I  should  meet  those  ancient 
heroes  wTho  died  by  an  unjust  sentence.  The 
comparing  my  sufferings  with  theirs  would,  I 
think,  be  no  unpleasant  occupation.  But  the 
greatest  pleasure  would  be  to  spend  my  time  in 
questioning  the  people  there  as  I  have  done  those 
here,  and  discovering  \vho  among  them  is  wise, 
and  who  not,  except  in  fancy.  .  .  .  For  surely 
the  judges  there  do  not  condemn  to  death ; 
for  in  other  respects  those  who  live  there  are 
happier  than  those  that  are  here,  and  are  thence 
forth  immortal,  at  least  if  what  is  said  be  true." 

After  remarking  that  all  which  happens  to  a 
good  man  is  wisely  ordered,  and  forgiving  his 
judges  for  their  injustice,  thus  giving  evidence 
of  a  noble  and  serene  temper,  he  closes  with 
these  memorable  words :  "  But  it  is  now  time 
to  depart,  for  me  to  die,  for  you  to  live.  But 


92  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

which  of  us  is  going  to  a  better  state  is  known 
only  to  the  gods."  * 

But  it  may  be  said  that  ancient  philosophy 
never  went  further  than  this  ;  nay,  could  never 
afterwards  be  sustained  at  an  equal  elevation.  It 
rather  deteriorated,  now  lapsing  into  scepticism  on 
the  one  hand,  or  materialism  on  the  other,  or,  in 
despite  of  these,  into  an  unreasoning  mysticism. 

Among  the  Orientals,  especially  of  India,  it 
never  much  transcended  a  sort  of  vasrue  nature- 

o 

worship,  or  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Infinite, 
as  The  All,  from  which  the  mystic  thinkers  of 
those  dreamy  regions  believed  they  had  come, 
and  whither  they  expected  to  go.  In  one  of  their 
schools,  it  assumed  the  form  of  atheistic  materi 
alism,  f  In  another,  it  terminated  in  absolute 
idealism.  It  readily  blended  with  polytheism, 
as  an  emanation  from  the  fountain  of  life,  and 
cherished  the  hope,  not  of  an  individual  con 
scious  immortality,  but  of  complete  absorption 
in  the  Deity  or  Universe.  J 

Among  the  Greeks,  speculative  inquiry,  with 
inconsiderable  exceptions,  as  in  the  case  of  Py 
thagoras,  Socrates,  and  Plato,  a  few  of  the 
Academics  and  Stoics,  was  rarely  practical  in 

• 

*  Plato's  Works,  Apologia,  32,  33. 

f  See  Cousin's  Hist,  de  la  Philos.,  2d  series,  tome  ix.  5th  Le9on, 
La  Sensualisme  clans  L'Inde,  p.  110. 
J  Hitter's  Hist,  of  An.  Ph.  i.  pp.  90,  93. 


ANCIENT    rillLOSOPIIY.  i)3 

its  results.  The  common  people  never  received 
it.  Plato  himself  regarded  them  as  incapable 
of  philosophy.*  Nor  did  it  ever  thoroughly  free 
itself  from  polytheism.  Occasionally  it  mingled 
with  popular  superstitions,  and  modified  the 
character  of  the  u  Mysteries,"  especially  among 
the  higher  classes  of  society,  giving  to  religious 
rites  a  deeper  significance,  yet  oftener  divesting 
them  of  all  their  power.  Its  most  common  and 
popular  effect  among  the  patrician  families  was 
scepticism  and  indifference,  frequently  downright 
Epicureanism. 

Its  fundamental  problems,  too,  were  never 
thoroughly  solved.  Even  in  modern  times,  few, 
indeed,  among  the  profoundest  metaphysical 
thinkers,  consider  them  solved.  A  coherent 
system  of  spiritual  philosophy,  or  of  absolute 
science,  does  not  exist.  By  many,  indeed,  all 
ontology,  as  a  positive  science,  is  regarded  as 
impossible.!  Perhaps  all  such  inquiries,  at  least 
in  their  higher  relations,  transcend  the  unaided 
powers  of  the  human  mind.  The  relation  of 


*  This  was  the  sentiment  of  all  the  ancient  philosophers.  Their 
feeling  is  well  expressed  by  Horace,  who  says,  "  Odi  profauum 
vulgus,  ct  arceo."  The  idea  of  teaching  the  common  people,  as 
such,  rarely,  if  ever,  occurred  to  their  minds. 

f  Among  them  Sir  William  Hamilton,  the  first  philosophical 
critic  of  the  age.  See  Morcll's  History  of  the  Philosophy  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  p.  656.  Compare  Discussions,  &c.,  by  Sir  W. 
Hamilton,  p.  31,  ct  scq.  (Eng.  cd.) 


94  CHlilST    IN    HISTORY. 

matter  to  thought,  or  of  thought  to  matter,  the 
origin  and  duration  of  matter,  the  origin  and 
duration  of  mind,  the  relation  of  the  finite  to 
the  infinite,  the  possible  production  of  the  finite 
from  the  infinite,  or  of  matter  from  thought,  the 
creation  of  the  world,  and  the  creation  of  man 
—  these  and  kindred  topics  were  debated  con 
stantly  by  the  Grecian  thinkers,  without  any  one 
reaching  a  solution  which  satisfied  the  whole,  or 
even  any  considerable  number.  With  occasion 
al  flashes  of  light,  and  glimpses  of  beauty,  radi 
ant  and  eternal,  the  whole  seems  to  most  readers 
an  endless  logomachy.  One  feels,  while  endeav 
oring  to  follow  them,  as  if  he  were  revolving  on 
Ixion's  wheel. 

"  In  reviewing  the  history  of  Greek  specula 
tion,"  says  Lewes,  who  has  too  much  reason  for 
the  remark,  "  from  the  Water  of  Thalcs  to  the 
Absolute  Negation  of  Plotinus,  what  a  reflec 
tion  is  forced  upon  us  of  the  vanity  of  metaphys 
ics  !  So  many  years  of  laborious  inquiry,  so 
many  splendid  minds  engaged,  and  after  the 
lapse  of  ages,  the  inquiry  remains  the  same,  the 
answer  more  ingeniously  absurd  !  Ah,  truly 
was  it  said  that  metaphysics  was  Vart  de  s'egarer 
avec  methode" 

Socrates  was  generally,  though  not  always, 
practical.  He  was  really  more  of  a  moralist 
than  a  metaphysician.  Plato  was  speculative 


ANCIENT    PHILOSOPHY.  95 

and  transcendent ;  so  much  so  that  few  have 
ever  pretended  to  understand  him  in  all  respects, 
and  it  is  highly  questionable  whether  he  thor 
oughly  understood  himself.  How  God  should 
reveal  himself,  or  create  the  universe,  is  a  prob 
lem  he  constantly  suggests,  but  never  solves. 
He  speaks  of  the  Supreme  Being,  the  original 
absolute  Essence  or  Idea,  as  inaccessible  and 
incomprehensible.  He  consequently  supposes 
the  existence  of  another  God  in  the  outward 
universe,  the  Alter  Ego,  so  to  speak,  of  the  Deity, 
the  God  manifested  and  embodied  in  finite  forms. 
Occasionally  he  seems  to  present  this  second  or 
manifested  Deity,  as  a  mere  abstraction  or  ideal, 
though  generally  as  the  soul  of  the  universe, 
embodied  in  the  material  whole.*  His  followers, 
the  Neo-Platonists  of  a  latter  era,  retained  the 
distinction,  and  attempted  to  give  it  a  more  def 
inite  scientific  expression.  They  departed,  how 
ever,  essentially  from  the  views  of  Plato.f 

Indeed,  the  idea  seems  to  be  founded,  in  some 
sense,  in  the  nature  of  things,  though  inadequately 
and  even  erroneously  expressed  by  Plato,  and  in 
volving  his  speculations  in  inextricable  difficulty. 
For  now,  he  speaks  of  this  cosmical  Deity  as  if 

*  See  the  T imams,  passim.  Compare  De  Lcgibus,  x.  p.  897. 
Philetnts,  p.  30.  Idem,  pp.  170,  171. 

f  For  an  extended  account  of  the  views  of  the  Neo-Platonists,  on 
the  subject  of  the  Trinity,  see  Ciidworth's  Intellectual  System,  ii. 
73-5-40.  Compare  Hitter's  Ancient  Philosophy,  vol.  iv.  pp.  521,  692. 


96  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

he  were  uncreated  and  eternal,  and  thence  equal 
to  the  supreme  Intelligence,  nay,  constituting  the 
supreme  Intelligence,  and  then  again  as  a  sort 
of  created  and  subaltern  God.  Still  we  must 
conceive  of  the  absolute  and  eternal  Essence,  as 
manifested  in  the  external  universe,  and  thence 
limited,  perhaps  humanized.  It  is  thus  He  dis 
covers  himself  to  us  as  a  distinct  personality.  For 
we  might  well  ask,  How  can  the  finite  ever  reach 
and  comprehend  the  Infinite  ?  And  how,  more 
over,  can  the  Infinite,  who  for  this  reason  is  the 
one  absolute,  unconditioned,  and  indivisible  All, 
create  or  produce  the  finite,  the  conditioned,  the 
many  ?  We  believe  the  doctrine  of  course,  nay, 
we  know  from  revelation,  perhaps  from  intuition, 
that  the  fact  so  exists  ;  but  in  philosophy,  the  ques 
tion  is  How  does  it  exist?  nay,  How  can  it  exist? 
How,  in  a  word,  (for  thus  the  problem  must  pre 
sent  itself  to  the  reason  of  a  pagan  philosopher,) 
how  can  the  absolute  and  unchangeable  Essence, 
who  can  never  be  more  than  he  is,  never  less  than 
he  is,  pass  into  or  produce  the  external  or  multi 
form  universe  ? 

Plato's  solution,  if  it  may  be  called  such,  for  it 
is  only  an  hypothesis,  involved  him  and  his  fol 
lowers,  both  ancient  and  modern,  in  a  sort  of 
ideal  pantheism,  which  has  taken  the  form  some 
times  of  a  profound  spiritualism,  though  more 
frequently,  perhaps,  of  an  arid  rationalism. 


ANCIENT    PHILOSOPHY.  97 

We  have  said  "  a  sort  of  ideal  pantheism,"  for 
it  is  only  such  by  implication.  His  system  may 
be  described  as  emanative ;  for  he  has  first  the 
Supreme  Reason,  the  Everlasting  God,  then  the 
Ivosmos  or  Universe,  which  also  is  a  God,  with 
soul  and  body,  produced  according  to  an  eternal 
archetype,  and  in  this  sense  eternal  also,  though 
in  its  present  form  a  production  of  time  ;  then  in 
ferior  gods,  who  in  their  turn  are  also  creators, 
and  finally  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men.*  He  be 
lieves  that  all  things  have  their  opposites ;  so  if 
there  be  good  there  must  be  evil  also,  and  so  on, 
in  which  sense  his  system  perhaps  may  be  styled 
dualistic  rather  than  pantheistic,  though  springing 
from  an  absolute  unity,  in  which  mind  and  mat 
ter,  good  and  evil,  are  involved,  and  thus  verging, 
as  the  merest  tyro  can  see,  towards  an  ideal  or 
spiritual  pantheism.  Plato,  however,  vacillates, 
both  as  to  the  origin  of  the  material  universe  and 
the  origin  of  evil ;  for  sometimes  he  seems  to  de 
rive  evil  from  matter,  while  matter  itself  is  rep 
resented  only  as  the  grosser  or  more  exterior  form 
of  that  ethereal  substance  or  essence  which  forms, 
so  to  speak,  the  body  of  God,  or  a  kind  of  uni 
versal  and  eternal  plenum,  from  which  he  pro 
duces  all  external  things. 

Souls  or  finite  spirits  also,  according  to  Plato, 

*  Plato's  Cosmogony  is   developed  chiefly  in  the   Tima>i"*.     See 
especially  the  8th  to  the  17th  chapters,  inclusive. 

9 


98  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

are  not  created,  but  rather  projected  into  formal 
or  outward  bodily  existence,  from  which  finally 
ascending,  they  will  return  to  the  immortal  state.* 

Thus  the  genius  of  Plato,  held  in'  the  fetters  of 
matter,  yet  tended  to  the  spiritual  and  divine ; 
and  though  his  system,  logically  carried  out,  may 
be  termed  ideal,  perhaps  pantheistic,  it  certainly 
possessed  this  redeeming  feature.  His  own  lofty 
spirit  longed  for  the  perfect,  the  beautiful,  and 
good,  in  their  absolute  and  eternal  archetypes. 
God  and  immortality  were  the  starting  point,  and 
the  goal  of  his  reasoning  and  his  life.  Yet  the 
unsettled  question  ever  recurs,  How  does  God 
come  to  us  ?  How  do  we  come  to  God  ?  He  is 
ours,  and  we  are  his — but  how  ? 

To  relieve  his  theory  of  its  main  difficulty, 
Plato,  as  we  have  stated,  in  addition  to  the  one 
inaccessible  and  universal  Reason,  who  forms  the 
root  of  all  existence,  supposed  a  God  of  this 
world,  a  sort  of  divine  Logos,  as  he  is  named,  a 
term  given  by  St.  John  to  Jesus  Christ  himself,  as 
the  Word,  or  manifestation  of  the  invisible  Fa 
ther.  But  Plato's  god  of  the  world,  or  external 
universe,  is  a  derived  and  limited  deity,  and  can 
not  therefore  be  made  to  cohere  with  any  just 
ideas  of  the  divine  Unity. 

This  deity,  however,  in  the  Platonic  philosophy, 

*  P/u?(tot  128.    Compare  F?u?dn<s,  51,  56,  61. 


ANCIENT    PHILOSOPHY.  99 

is  simply  the  embodied  soul  of  the  universe,  rep 
resented  as  a  living  creature.  Plato's  reasoning 
upon  this  subject  is  curious.  The  world  has 
warmth,  is  composed  of  various  elements,  has 
motion  like  a  human  body,  &c.,  therefore  it 
must  have  a  soul.  "  As  soon  as  the  soul,  that 
image  of  the  eternal  gods,  or  ideas,  the  vast 
animal,  began  to  move,  God  looked  upon  his  work, 
and  was  glad"  Had  Plato  seen  the  Bible? 
See  the  Timceus,  cxiv.  In  the  Phccdrus,  (55,) 
he  uses  this  remarkable  language :  "  But  the 
immortal  derives  its  name  from  no  deduction  of 
reasoning ;  but  as  we  neither  see  nor  sufficiently 
understand  God,  we  represent  him  as  an  immortal 
animal,  possessed  of  soul  as  well  as  body,  and 
these  united  together  through  all  time."  Here 
the  idea  is  different  from  that  in  the  Timceus, 
which  closes  thus :  "  We  are  now  at  length  to 
say,  that  our  discourse  concerning  the  universe 
has  reached  its  conclusion ;  for,  not  only  con 
taining,  but  full  of  mortal  and  immortal  animals, 
it  has  thus  been  formed,  a  visible  animal  em 
bracing  things  visible  —  a  sensible  (manifested?) 
god  of  the  intelligible,  (spiritual?)  the  greatest, 
the  best,  and  most  perfect  —  this  one  only  be 
gotten  universe"  Plato's  universe  is  thus  a 
created  god,  a  god  whom  he  worshipped,  for 
he  begins  the  Critias  with  imploring,  "that 
God,  (the  universe,)  long,  long  ago  created  in 


100  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

fact,  to  confirm  "  the  truth  of  his  recent  discus 
sion,  &c. 

On  the  same  ground,  and  springing  from  the 
same  speculative  difficulty,  he  cannot  solve  the 
question  of  the  soul's  immortality.  He  thoroughly 
believes  it,  and  in  the  Phccdo,  devoted  to  this 
particular  discussion,  he  presents  many  ingenious 
arguments  in  its  favor,  though  none  of  them  can 
be  regarded  as  demonstrative ;  and  in  the  last 
analysis  he  is  compelled  to  base  it  on  the  doc 
trine  of  the  metempsychosis,  including  the  prc- 
existence  and  transmigration  of  souls.*  Indeed, 
Plato  would  seem  to  hold  the  past  eternal 
existence  of  the  soul  in  God,  whence  he  deduces 
its  future  immortality.  Its  preexistence  he  en 
deavors  to  prove  by  the  doctrine  or  fact  of 
reminiscence,  an  idea  hinted  at  in  Wordsworth's 
beautiful  ode  entitled  Intimations  of  Immor 
tality  from  Recollections  of  Early  Childhood. 

"  Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting; 
The  soul  that  rises  with  us,  our  life's  star, 
Hath  had  elsewhere  its  setting, 
And  cometh  from  afar  ; 
Not  iu  entire  forgetfulncss, 
And  not  in  utter  nakedness, 
But  trailing  clouds  of  glory,  do  we  come 
From  God,  who  is  our  home." 

Taken  in  some  large  poetic  sense,  all  this  is 
doubtless  true ;  for  we  do  come  from  God  as  the 

*  Pha>do,  47-49  ;  Phadrus,  61,  62.     See  also  Timeout,  clxxii. 


ANCIENT    PHILOSOPHY.  101 

fountain  of  our  being;  but  evidently  we  are 
creatures  of  time,  so  far  at  least  as  the  past  is 
concerned.  Our  souls,  grand  and  capacious  as 
they  may  become,  have  yet  their  specific,  individ 
ual  beginning  or  creation ;  and  all  back  of 

"  That  immortal  sea 
"Which  brought  us  hither," 

is  unknown  and  ineffable. 

Plato,  however,  is  not  satisfied  to  deduce  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  from  its  capacities  and 
possibilities,  and  especially  from  those  deep  and 
beautiful  harmonies  and  aspirations,  of  which  he 
so  touchingly  speaks;  he  must  go  further;  he 
must  solve  the  problem  philosophically;  and 
hence  back  of  all  a  posteriori  considerations, 
back  of  all  the  facts  of  its  present  human  exist 
ence,  he  boldly  assumes  the  fact  of  its  eternity ; 
in  other  words,  its  absolute  existence  in  God, 
from  which  its  future  immortality  flows,  as  a 
natural  and  eternal  necessity.  And  yet  he  seems 
to  intimate  the  possibility  of  the  destruction  of 
bad  souls;  one  of  those  singular  inconsistencies 
into  which  the  profoundest  intellects  not  un- 
frequently  fall.* 

Logically  carried  out,  as  every  thoughtful 
person  must  acknowledge,  the  doctrine  of  the 

*  P/ucdo,  1$). 

9* 


iU2  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

eternity  of  the  soul  involves  its  divinity ;  in  other 
words,  its  identity  with  God.  And  as  God,  the 
infinite  and  immutable,  cannot  consist  of  parts, 
and  thence  can  neither  be  divided  nor  multiplied, 
the  identity  of  the  soul  with  God  would  prove  it 
God,  and  so  pantheism  would  be  the  necessary 
logical  result.* 

The  subject  of  the  origin  and  duration  of 
matter,  to  which  Plato  frequently  refers,  is  left, 
as  one  might  naturally  suppose,  in  inextricable 
confusion.  As  a  substantial,  external  thing,  with 
its  attributes* of  extension,  divisibility,  form,  color, 
and  so  forth,  he  seems  to  regard  it  as  simply 
phenomenal ;  and  yet  its  basis,  which  he  denom 
inates  Hyle,  a  sort  of  ethereal  essence,  contem 
poraneous  with  God,  is  regarded  not  simply  as 
eternal,  but  occasionally  as  the  seat  of  sin ;  so 
that  on  this  ground  he  cannot  successfully  solve 
the  problem  of  human  redemption,  to  us  the 
most  immediate  and  thrilling  of  all  problems. 
He  sees  and  laments  the  strange  "  necessity " 
(dj'ciyxT?)  which  gives  rise  to  sin  and  misery,  that 
apparent  duality  and  contradiction  in  the  nature 
of  things,  and  especially  in  the  nature  of  man, 
which  the  Bible  refers  to  the  fall  of  the  race  from 
its  primitive  integrity ;  but  his  chief  remedy  is 


*  It  was  on  this  ground  that  Lessing,  a  Spinozist,  held  the  doc 
trine  of  the  preexistence  of  souls. 


A:-CIEXT  PHILOSOPHY.  103 

the  renunciation  of  the  outward  and  bodily,  the 
contemplation  of  archetypal  ideas,  and  a  return, 
if  possible,  to  the  original  and  eternal  essence.* 
These  things,  we  know,  are  echoes  of  the  truth, 
as  it  were  imperfect  glimpses  of  the  reality ;  but 
much  was  wanting  which  ancient  philosophy 
never  supplied.  Indeed,  neither  Plato  nor  any 
of  the  old  speculative  thinkers  apprehended  fully 
the  nature  of  sin,  as  the  voluntary  lapse  and 
transgression  of  the  soul.  They  seemed  to 
regard  it  as  a  natural  and  inevitable  evil,  for 
which  there  was  no  adequate  cure,  except  in  a 
return  to  absolute  spiritual  existence-!  The  idea 
of  redemption,  by  a  divine  transformation,  or  re 
generation  of  the  soul,  in  its  present  limited  and 
imperfect  state,  never  dawned  upon  their  minds. 
Plato  evidently  struggles  with  the  dread  neces 
sity,  and  longs  for  emancipation  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Infinite,  but  gives  no  distinct  information 
as  to  the  method  of  its  attainment.  True,  he 
dwells  upon  the  necessity  of  goodness,  as  the  soul's 
eternal  life.  He  speaks  eloquently  of  virtue,  as 

UF.ylaTrjv    xai   v.ullluii]i>  rcof   avfUfioi'itiv,  "  the    deepest 

and  most  beautiful  of  all  harmonies,"  and 
vaguely  hints  at  the  means  of  reunion  with 


*  Reptib.  1.  vii.  1,  2. 

•j-  In.  the  Timccus,  (Ixix.,)  he  says  expressly  that  the  soul  is  "  ren 
dered  morbid  and  unwise  by  the  body,"  and  that  "  no  one  is  volun. 
tarilv  bad." 


104  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

God ;  but  perplexed  with  the  fatal  proclivity  to 
evil,  in  the  very  constitution  of  the  external 
world,  and  the  physical  nature  of  man,  he  fails 
to  answer  those  two  great  questions  which  are 
ever  pressing  the  race,  How  shall  man  be  just  with 
God  ?  How  shall  man  become  sinless  and  happy  ? 

Plato  sees  clearly  enough  that  nature  is  a 
manifestation  of  God ;  but  he  perverts,  or  alto 
gether  loses  sight  of  the  divine  personality.  His 
only  personal  deity  is  the  actual  universe,  as  a 
living  creature,  with  its  inner  spirit  and  its  ex 
ternal  form,  or,  as  he  terms  it,  its  body  and  soul. 
Thus  he  degrades  the  idea  of  the  divine  person 
ality,  making  it  commensurate,  both  in  scope 
and  duration,  with  the  created  universe.  Leaving 
this,  however,  he  naturally  passes  into  the  idea 
of  the  infinite  and  absolute  nature  of  God,  and 
here  actually  loses,  as  he  must,  all  conception 
of  personality.  His  notions  become  abstract 
and  misty ;  so  that  his  eternal  Essence,  or  God, 
is  found  to  be  little  more  than  an  abstract  idea 
or  power,  absolute  and  inaccessible,  whom  no 
man  can  know  or  love.* 

The  fact  is,  the  great  truth  of  the  personality 
of  God,  and  the  possibility  of  union  and  fellow 
ship  with  him,  as  a  distinct  intelligence,  and 

*  See  upon  this  point  Hitter's  Hist.  An.  Ph.  vol.  ii.  p.  287.    Com 
pare  pp.  272,  273. 


ANCIENT    PHILOSOPHY.  105 

especially  as  a  Father  and  Friend,  wanted,  for 
its  full  expression  and  confirmation,  an  actual 
incarnation  in  some  perfect,  tangible  form.  This 
while  preserving  the  fundamental  truth  of  the 
divine  unity  and  supremacy,  would  bring  home 
to  the  intellect  and  the  heart  the  idea  of  a  per 
sonal  God,  distinct  from  the  universe,  with  whom 
we  might  enter  into  relations  of  fellowship  and 
love. 

Yet  Plato,  as  we  see,  clung  to  the  fact  of  a 
divine  manifestation,  while  incapable  of  realizing 
it  in  scientific  form.  It  constituted,  indeed,  a 
pervading  element  of  his  system,  and  entered 
into  all  subsequent  speculations  conceived  in  his 
spirit.  Nay,  whenever,  in  the  history  of  the  past, 
any  approximation  was  made,  either  in  philos 
ophy  or  religion,  to  the  great  truth  of  a  First 
Cause,  the  necessities  of  human  nature  uniformly 
removed  this  primal  deity  beyond  the  sphere,  not 
only  of  the  senses,  but  of  the  mere  finite  intellect. 
The  truth  was  held,  as  by  a  superior  sense  or 
faculty,  as  a  great  and  unutterable  reality ;  and 
intercourse  with  such  a  being,  either  on  his  side 
or  on  man's,  was  supposed  possible  only  through 
some  kind  of  intermediate  power.  For  the  same 
reason,  the  outward  creation  and  government  of 
the  universe  were  always  ascribed,  as  among  the 
Oriental  theosophers,  to  some  emanating  Essence 
or  Deity,  or,  as  among  the  Platonists,  to  the  di- 


106  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

vine  Logos,  the  Wisdom  or  Reason  of  the  great 
Supreme,  in  the  form,  not  only  of  an  abstraction, 
but  of  a  personality.  That  is  to  say,  a  personal 
God,  the  only  conceivable  God,  to  them  ever  was 
but  an  image,  reproduction,  or  manifestation  of 
the  one  absolute  and  eternal  Being. 

This  was  the  doctrine,  in  some  form  or  other, 
of  all  the  old  religions,  of  all  the  Indian  and  Egyp 
tian  philosophies  and  mythologies,  of  Magianism 
and  of  Platonism,  though  often  appearing  in  a 
most  imperfect,  and  even  degrading  form.  This 
too  was  the  doctrine  of  the  Hebrew  sa«-es.*  Nu- 

o 

merous  passages  might  be  cited  from  Philo  Ju- 
dseus,  born  at  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  only  a  few 
months  before  olir  Savior,  and  par  excellence  the 
philosopher  of  the  Hebrews,  on  the  impossibility 
that  the  self-existent  Deity  should  become  cogni 
zable  to  the  intellect  or  senses  of  man,  and  con 
sequently  that  there  must  intervene  between  him 
and  us  some  divine  mediation,  some  eternal  Lo 
gos,  Reason,  or  Word.  Sometimes  he  speaks  of 
this  intermediate  divinity  as  the  image,  or  still 
more  adequately  as  the  shadow  of  God.f  Nay, 
he  goes  further,  and  maintains  that  as  God  is  the 

*  For  example,  the  Targumists,  the  earliest  Jewish  commenta 
tors  on  the  Scriptures.  Lightfoot,  Schoetgen,  and  others  have  col 
lected  numerous  passages  in  which  the  Messiah  is  represented  under 
this  idea.  Sec  some  admirable  remarks  upon  this  point  in  the  intro 
duction  to  Tholuck'a  Commentary  on  John. 

f  Leg.  AUc'j.  ii.     The  term  here  used  is  TrrtpoJeiy/ja  ->>?  tiKovos. 


ANCIENT    PHILOSOPHY.  107 

prototype  of  the  Word,  so  again  the  Word  is  the 
archetype  of  other  things,  and  of  man  among  the 
rest.  It  is  on  this  ground  that  he  describes  the 
Deity  as  alight,  which  not  only  illuminates  him 
self,  but  also  emits  ten  thousand  rays,  which  form 
the  supra-sensible  world  of  his  energies,  the  ple- 
roma  or  "  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all."  * 
So  that  the  Messiah,  or  Word,  would  be,  as  the 
Athanasian  creed  expresses  it,  God  of  God  and 
Light  of  Light,  or,  as  St.  Paul,  more  beautifully, 
"^he  effulgence  of  the  Father's  glory,  and  the  ex 
press  image  of  his  nature." 

Philo  does  not  carry  out  the  idea  quite  con 
sistently,  neither  does  he  conform,  in  all  respects, 
either  to  the  Platonic  or  the  Hebrew  conception.! 
He  mingles  with  it  some  conceits  and  refine 
ments  which  it  is  difficult  to  understand,  and 
proposes  to  reunite  man  to  the  Deity  by  means  of 
mental  abstraction  and  theosophic  mysticism.:]:  It 
is  impossible  also  to  say  whether  he  derived  his 
ideas  chiefly  from  Plato  and  the  Oriental  theos- 
ophers,  or  from  the  ancient  Scriptures.  His  meth 
od  of  interpreting  the  divine  Oracles  is  allegorical. 
The  literal  and  even  natural  sense  he  often  re 
jects,  or  modifies  at  pleasure  ;  and  endeavors,  like 
Origen  and  Swedenborg,  to  find  the  real  import 

*  De  Chcnib.  xxviii.  L56. 

•f-  lie  rarely,  if  ever,  gives  the  idea  of  a  personal  Messiah. 

j  Leg.  Alley,  iii.  9,  p.  93. 


108  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

beneath  external  words,  facts,  or  appearances.  His 
style  is  Grecian  and  Platonic  ;  his  ideas  are  Ori 
ental  and  mystical,  though  frequently  beautiful 
and  affecting,  fie  pours  contempt  upon  outward 
things,  the  sciences,  and  even  political  affairs,  and 
dwells  with  infinite  complacency  on  the  excel 
lence  and  happiness  of  a  contemplative  life.*  He 
praises  especially  the  Therapeutae,  or  the  Jewish 
anchorites  of  Egypt,  who  despised  society,  mor 
tified  the  body,  and  endeavored,  by  strange  cere 
monies  and  mystic  contemplation,  to  reunite 
themselves  to  the  Deity.f 

These  notions  exerted  a  great  influence  upon 
the  Jews  of  Egypt,  who  had  multiplied  there 
exceedingly  during  the  reign  of  the  Ptolemies, 
so  as  to  amount  to  something  more  than  a  mil 
lion  of  souls.  In  subsequent  times  they  min 
gled,  to  some  extent,  with  Christian  ideas,  and 
originated,  probably,  the  monastic  life  of  the 
early  Christian  devotees,  so  numerous  in  that 
country. 

But  the  belief  of  Plato  and  Philo  in  regard  to 
the  Logos  was  cherished  in  a  somewhat  different 
form,  perhaps,  by  the  Jewish  people,  especially  by 
their  more  thoughtful,  religious  teachers.  He  was 

*  Sec  De  Vita  Contemplativa. 

f  De  Migra.  Abrahah.  2,  3,  10,  11,  compared  with  De  Vita  Con 
templativa.  In  other  places,  however,  Philo  rebukes  the  extreme 
asceticism  and  extravagant  usages  of  the  Theraputse.  See  Pro- 
fuqis,  7. 


ANCIENT   PHILOSOPHY.  109 

called,  as  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  the 
Messiah,  or  Anointed  One,  the  Shiloh,  or  Peace 
maker,  the  Divine  Presence,  or  the  Angel  of  His 
Presence,  who  led  them  through  the  wilderness, 
the  Melatron  or  Mediator,  though  most  frequently 
the  Memra  or  Word,  for  as  a  word  is  an  outgoing 
or  utterance  of  mind,  an  embodiment  or  mani 
festation  of  spirit,  so  they  regarded  the  Messiah, 
for  whose  incarnation  in  the  fulness  of  the  times 
they  constantly  longed,  as  the  embodiment  or 
manifestation  of  Jehovah  —  as  it  were  God  per 
sonified,  that  is,  revealed,  in  such  limited  but  ap 
propriate  form  as  mortals  might  understand. 

And  it  is  a  curious  fact,  which  we  may  state  in 
this  connection,  that  this  very  appellation,  Word 
or  Reason,  is  found  not  only  in  the  Hebrew,  but 
in  the  Indian,  the  Persian,  the  Chinese,  and  Egyp 
tian  philosophies  and  religions.  In  the  Indian 
mythology,  Vach,  signifying  speech,  is  the  active 
power  of  Brahma.  In  the  Egyptian  hieroglyph 
ics,  Amun  is  "  the  hidden  God,"  while  Phtha,  the 
god  of  light,  or  fire,  by  whom  he  produces  the 
world,  (as  in  the  Rosetta  stone,)  is  "  the  Appar 
ent  "  or  Manifested  God.  Hence  the  sovereigns 
of  Egypt  are  styled  "  the  beloved  of  Phtha.^  In 
the  Persian  religion,  Ormuzd,  the  good,  creates 
the  universe  by  Honover,  the  Word.*  Lao-tsue, 


*  Ormuzd  is  himself  a  manifestation  of  Zeruane  Akherene,  or 
absolute  Being. 

10 


HO  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

one  of  the  Chinese  sages,  teaches  the  creation  of 
the  world  by  "  the  Primordial  Reason."  * 

The  same  term  may  also  be  traced  in  some  of 
the  most  ancient  poets  —  a  tradition  doubtless  of 
some  primeval  revelation,  if  not  an  intuitive  con 
viction  of  the  human  mind.  Passages  of  this 
kind  are  cited  by  Justin  Martyr,  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  and  others,  and  though  liable  to 
some  suspicion  on  the  score  of  genuineness,  are 
not  to  be  utterly  rejected.  We  do  not  indeed 
urge  them  here  as  conclusive  proof,  for  they  re 
quire  to  be  sifted  by  a  thorough  and  candid  criti 
cism.  It  is  enough  to  say,  that  Philo-Judaeus, 
as  also  the  early  Christian  fathers,  uniformly,  and 
with  considerable  plausibility,  maintain,  that  amid 
many  errors  of  view,  the  ancient  writers,  poets, 
and  philosophers  derived  the  knowledge  of  one 
eternal  God,  and  one  eternal  Word  or  Reason, 
by  whom  the  worlds  were  created,  from  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  or  from  some  original  revela 
tion,  and  thence,  though  bewildered  by  supersti 
tion,  bore  testimony  to  the  fundamental  prin 
ciples  of  religion.f  The  light  shone  upon  them 
as  through  broken  clouds,  often  lost  out  of 


*  "  La  raison  a  produit  un,  un  a  produit  deux,  deux  a  produit 
trois,  trois  a  produit  toutes  choses."  —  Memoirs  sur  la  Vie  et  les 
Ouvrac/es  de  Lao-tsue,  par  M.  Abel  Rcmusat. 

f  See  Justin's  Cohortatio  ad  Gr<r?os,  15.  (Otto's  ed.)  vol.  i. 
p.  53. 


ANC1EI7T    PHILOSOPHY.  Ill 

sight,  but  anon  reappearing  amid  the  drifting 
shadows. 

"  Hence,"  says  Clement,  "  if  the  truth  be  but 
one,  however  numerous  the  modes  of  error,  we 
may  suppose  the  different  schools  of  philosophy, 
barbarian  as  well  as  Greek,  seizing  on  it  as  the 
Bacchantes  seized  on  Penthcus,  and  having  torn 
it  to  pieces,  each  bearing  off  a  part,  and  then 
boasting  itself  of  possessing  the  whole.  Yet  I 
think  the  dawn  of  that  light  in  the  east  illumi 
nated  them  all ;  for  it  may  be  proved  that  all  who 
sincerely  sought  after  the  truth,  whether  Greeks 
or  barbarians,  did  in  fact  carry  off,  in  some  cases, 
not  a  little  of  the  truth  which  they  sought,  the 
fragments  of  which  being  collected  and  reunited, 
the  perfect  Logos  (Reason)  or  truth  is  then  fully 
s.een  and  known  ;  for  he  who  can  with  propriety 
be  called  a  Christian  philosopher  must  be  im 
bued  with  all  knowledge."  * 

Plutarch,  one  of  the  best  of  the  ancient  think 
ers  and  moralists,  at  a  later  day  than  Orpheus 
and  Plato,  in  his  treatise  on  the  Osiris,  or  Sun- 
god  of  Egypt,  the  symbol,  as  he  deems  it,  of  an 
eternal  Sun,  has  a  similar  conception.  While 
recognizing  the  superior  and  universal  Reason 
or  Mind  as  the  fountain  of  all  existence,  he 
speaks  of  him  as  inaccessible  and  incomprehen- 

*  Stromata,  lib.  i.  c.  13. 


112  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

sible,  except  through  some  external  manifesta 
tion,  like  that  of  the  embodied  Logos.* 

Doubtless  all  the  symbols  and  deities  of  the 
ancient  pagan  sages  and  religionists  were  false, 
or  at  least  inadequate ;  nay,  many  of  them  bestial 
and  bewildering,  the  fruit  of  superstition  and 
fancy.  Perhaps  none  of  them  ever  rose  to  the 
true  conception  of  the  Divine  Logos,  or  Reason, 
and  all  were  liable  to  lose  sight  of  the  spiritual 
and  divine  in  the  carnal  and  terrene.  Yet  they 
felt  the  need,  as  many  now  feel  the  need,  of  some 
special  manifestation  of  the  Deity,  over  and 
above  that  of  nature,  which  might  meet  the 
wants  of  man,  and  which,  while  bringing  down 
the  Infinite  to  the  level  of  the  soul,  might  at  the 
same  time  lift  the  soul  to  the  level  of  the  Infinite. 

And  what  can  all  this  be  but  the  general  ac 
quiescence  of  the  human  mind  in  the  necessity 
of  some  Divine  Mediator,  some  celestial  Mes 
siah,  or  Son  of  God,  who  should  reunite  the 
extremes  of  heaven  and  earth,  of  man  and  God, 
and  so  bring  the  Deity,  the  great  Father  of  us 
all,  within  the  sphere  and  compass  of  human 
thought  and  affection  ?  f 

But  philosophy,  both  ancient  and  modern,  has 
only  hovered  around  the  problem,  never  solved 

*  Hitter's  Ancient  Ph.  vol.  iv.  p.  497. 

f  A  striking  passage  as  to  the  necessity  of  a  mediator,  even  on 
natural  grounds,  may  be  seen  in  Bacon's  Works,  ii.  p.  407. 


ANCIENT   PHILOSOPHY.  113 

it,  and  nothing  can  equal  the  bewilderment  of 
the  heathen  mind  in  regard  to  this  and  kindred 
questions.*  The  difficulty,  so  far  from  being 
diminished,  was  only  deepened  by  time.  Where 
it  did  not  find  its  issue  in  a  sort  of  philosophic 
stoicism,  or  in  absolute  scepticism,  as  it  often 
did,  it  became  an  agony  of  desire,  which  could 
be  satisfied  only  with  the  divine  reality. 

The  supposed  case  of  Clemens,  a  noble  Ro 
man,  will  illustrate  what  we  mean,  and  show 
how  philosophy,  with  its  high  imaginings  and 
strange  perplexities,  was  a  means  of  preparing 
the  soul  for  Christ.  In  the  commencement  of 
his  book,  entitled  Recognitiones,  he  gives  a  most 
interesting  account  of  his  mental  struggles,  and 
subsequent  conversion  to  Christianity,  begin 
ning,  "Ego  Clemens  in  urbe  Roma  nata,"  etc. 
A  considerable  portion  of  his  narrative  may  be 
found  in  Neandcr's  Church  History,  vol.  i.  pp. 
82,  33,  admirably  translated  by  Professor  Tor- 


*  The  same  bewilderment  is  visible  among  the  philosophers  of 
modern  Europe.  The  whole  problem  of  the  German  and  French 
Ontology,  developed  in  the  writings  of  Leibnitz,  Kant,  Fichtc, 
Hegel,  Scheiling,  and  Cousin,  is  the  relation  of  subject  and  object, 
and,  at  a  higher  point,  of  the  finite  and  the  infinite.  With  them  the 
absolute  Essence  ever  images  or  reproduces  himself  in  the  finite  ;  so 
that  they  are  compelled  to  believe  in  a  certain  Trinity.  The  idea  is 
brought  out  very  strikingly  by  Scheiling  and  Cousin.  Sec  Schelling's 
Philosophic  und  Religion,  pp.  23-30.  Cousin's  llistoire  de  la  PJiiios. 
Intro.,  p.  9(5. 

10  * 


114  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

rey.  *  All  we  can  give  here  is  a  condensed  ab 
stract.  From  his  youth  he  was  haunted  with 
the  questions,  which  had  entered  his  soul,  he 
hardly  knew  how,  '-Will  my  existence  termi 
nate  with  death  ?  What  will  be  my  fate  then  ? 
Will  it  be  as  if  I  had  never  been  born  ?  When 
and  how  was  the  world  created  ?  What  existed 
before  it  ?  Will  it  end,  and  if  so,  what  will  then 
take  place  ?  "  Incessantly  agitated  by  such  ques 
tionings  and  doubts,  he  grew  pale  and  emaciated, 
little  aware,  as  he  tells  us,  that  he  had  a  celestial 
friend  guiding  him  to  truth  and  peace.  He  tried 
to  rid  himself  of  his  anxiety,  but  found  it  im 
possible.  He  attended  the  schools  of  philosophy, 
but  without  satisfaction.  He  saw  nothing  but 
endless  and  ever-varying  notions,  "building  up 
and  tearing  down  of  theories."  He  was  driven  to 
and  fro,  now  hoping  and  then  despairing,  now 
believing,  and  anon  doubting  the  immortality 
of  the  soul.  His  case  grew  worse.  He  then 
resolved  to  visit  Egypt,  the  land  of  mysteries  and 
apparitions,  and  hunt  up  a  magician  who  might 
summon  for  him  a  spirit  from  the  other  world. 
The  appearance  of  such  a  spirit  would  give  him 
demonstrative  evidence  of  the  soul's  immortality; 


*  The  genuineness  of  the  Recognitioncs  is  called  in  question  by 
scholars ;  but  the  case  will  serve  for  an  illustration  of  what  might 
take  place,  and  of  what,  indeed,  has  actually  taken  place  in  other 


ANCIENT    PHILOSOPHY.  115 

and  he  should  never  again  be  permitted  to  doubt. 
But  a  philosophic  friend  advised  him  against 
this  course,  as  unlawful  and  undesirable.  In 
this  state  of  mind,  full  of  doubts,  undecided,  in 
quiring,  agitated  and  distressed,  he  came  in  con 
tact  with  the  gospel  of  Christ,  preached  in  demon 
stration  of  the  Spirit.  His  doubts  were  dispelled, 
his  mind  was  enlightened,  his  heart  was  renewed. 
He  found  God  and  immortality  in  Christ,  and 
rejoiced  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory. 

Very  similar  to  this  was  the  conversion  of 
Justin  Martyr,  who  though  born  in  Flavia  Neap- 
olis,  was  educated  in  the  religious  belief  of  the 
Greeks,  to  which  his  parents  belonged.  He  was 
fond  of  study,  and  especially  attached  to  the 
Greek  poets  and  philosophers.  In  the  beginning 
of  his  dialogue  with  Trypho,  the  Jew,  he  de 
scribes  his  hopes  and  disappointments  in  the  study 
of  the  Greek  philosophy,  and  shows  how  he  ob 
tained  certainty  and  truth  only  in  the  Christian 
religion.  He  first  joined  himself  to  a  disciple  of 
the  Stoa,  but  soon  left  him  with  bitter  disap 
pointment,  because  his  teacher  could  say  little  or 
nothing  of  that  Deity,  whose  nature  he  so  much 
longed  to  know.  With  a  Peripatetic  he  had  still 
less  success,  for  he  found  under  the  cloak  of  the 
philosopher  a  sordid  love  of  gain.  This,  however, 
did  not  abate' his  confidence  in  philosophy,  and 
so  he  betook  himself  to  a  Pythagorean,  who  rang 


116  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

changes  upon  the  glories  of  music,  geometry,  and 
astronomy,  as  essential  to  all  elevated  spiritual 
attainments,  and  finally  excluded  Justin  from  his 
teachings,  because  he  professed  ignorance  upon 
these  subjects.  Justin  almost  despaired  of  attain 
ing  the  truth  in  this  way,  when  he  learned  that  a 
noted  Platonist  had  opened  a  school  in  the  place 
where  he  was  sojourning,  with  whom  he  resolved 
to  make  one  more  attempt  to  attain  the  object  of 
his  wishes.  Here  he  was  not  altogether  disap 
pointed,  for  the  conversations  of  the  philosopher 
furnished  his  mind  with  the  richest  materials  of 
thought.  He  was  much  impressed  with  the  sym 
metry  and  grandeur  of  the  Platonic  system,  and 
especially  with  its  ideal  and  spiritual  tone.  His 
philosophic  knowledge  increased  daily,  and  he 
thought  himself  on  the  verge  of  consummating 
his  Platonic  attainments,  by  the  direct  intuition 
of  the  Deity. 

In  this-  state  of  mind,  he  was  wandering,  one 
day,  in  a  lonely  spot  by  the  sea  shore,  where  he 
was  unexpectedly  joined  by  a  venerable  man,  of 
gentle  and  imposing  aspect,  supposed  by  some  to 
have  been  a  philosophically  educated  Jewish 
Christian,  by  others  the  Bishop  Polycarp.  This 
good  man  informed  him,  that  he  had  come  down 
to  the  beach  to  wait  for  some  absent  relatives, 
whose  return  he  was  anxiously  expecting.  Justin 
could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  communicating 


ANCIEXT   PHILOSOPHY.  117 

his  thoughts  to  the  venerable  man,  informing  him 
that  he  had  repaired  to  that  spot  for  philosophical 
speculation.  "  You  are  a  lover,  then,  of  discourse, 
(#iP.dj'oc,)  but  no  lover  of  deeds,  ('Mepyo?,)  nor  by 
any  means  a  lover  of  truth  ;  for  you  do  not  try  to 
be  a  practical  man,  but  rather  an  ingenious  dis 
putant."  To  this  Justin  demurred,  affirming  that 
nothing  could  be  more  worthy  of  a  man  than  to 
make  it  manifest  that  all  things  were  governed 
by  intelligence,  and  to  detect  the  undivine  and 
the  erroneous  in  all  other  pursuits ;  that  philosophy 
was  the  true  source  of  wisdom,  and  ought  to  re 
ceive  the  homage  of  all. 

The  aged  man  inquired  how  philosophy  led  to 
happiness,  and  what  was  its  proper  definition. 
Being  told  that  it  was  "  the  science  of  being,  and 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  happiness  being  the 
reward  of  this  knowledge  and  wisdom,"  he  showed 
that  philosophy,  when  it  depended  upon  its  un 
aided  resources,  could  never  solve  the  problem. 
.Because  the  knowledge  of  God,  the  highest  object 
of  all,  and  especially  of  Platonic  speculation,  could 
never  be  acquired  by  an  empirical  or  formal 
method,  or  by  discursive  contemplation,  like  mu 
sic,  arithmetic,  or  astronomy.  He  proved  that 
God  himself  must  teach  us,  through  some  divine 
medium,  to  which  philosophy  could  make  no  pre 
tensions.  Reason,  indeed,  might  ascertain  the 
truth  of  the  divine  existence,  and  of  moral  princi- 


118  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

pies;  but  could  not  behold  the  essence  of  God. 
Besides,  according  to  a  postulate  of  the  Platonic 
philosophy  itself,  only  the  pure  and  righteous  can 
attain  to  the  actual  vision  of  God  ;  so  that  the 
reason  or  intellect  plays  but  a  subordinate  part. 
"  The  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God." 

He  then  dwelt  upon  the  errors  of  the  Platonic 
philosophy,  especially  with  reference  to  the  doc 
trine  of  the  metempsychosis  and  the  immortality 
of  the  soul ;  since  the  former  was  absolutely 
useless,  teaching  that  while  wicked  men  passed 
into  the  bodies  of  brutes,  they  had  no  con 
sciousness  of  their  former  aberrations,  nor  any 
sense  of  their  present  degradation.  As  to  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  he  showed  that  it  was 
founded  by  the  Platonics,  on  the  assumption  of 
its  absolute  and  eternal  nature,  and  involved  not 
simply  its  future  but  its  past  eternal  existence. 
The  soul,  indeed,  created  in  the  image  of  God, 
is  capable  of  immortality,  and  is  thus  suscepti 
ble  of  future  reward  or  punishment.  Hence  it 
endures,  in  order  to  realize  the  idea  of  retribu 
tion,  not  only  from  its  own  nature,  but  through 
the  will  and  power  of  him  who  gave  it  exist 
ence. 

Justin  was  profoundly  impressed  by  the  wis 
dom  and  eloquence  of  the  venerable  man.  He 
began  to  lose  confidence  in  his  philosophical 
speculations.  "  What,  then,  shall  we  do  ?  "  was 


A?;CIKNT    PHIL O SOPHY.  119 

his  exclamation  ;  "  on  what  teacher  can  we  rely, 
and  from  what  quarter  derive  infallible  truth  1 " 
He  was  directed  to  the  prophets,  "  organs  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,"  and  especially  to  "  Christ,  the 
way,  the  truth,  and  the  life."  The  old  man  then 
left  him,  and  he  saw  him  no  more.  Eagerly  he 
sought  the  Scriptures,  and  the  instructions  of 
those  known  as  the  friends  of  Christ.  And 
there  he  found  what  he  sought —  truth  and  rest, 
God  and  immortality.* 

It  may  be  concluded,  then,  that  ancient  phi 
losophy  was  a  longing  and  a  preparation  for 
Christ.  "  For  it  appears  to  me,"  said  Simmias, 
in  Phaedo,  addressing  himself  to  Socrates,  who 
concedes  the  correctness  of  the  statement,  "  that 
to  know  them  (the  truths  pertaining  to  the  soul 
and  its  destiny)  clearly  in  the  present  life,  is 
either  impossible  or  very  difficult :  on  the  other 
hand,  not  to  test  what  has  been  said  of  them  in 
every  possible  way,  to  investigate  the  whole 
matter,  and  exhaust  upon  it  every  effort,  is  the 
part  of  a  very  weak  man.  For  we  ought,  in 
respect  to  these  things,  either  to  learn  from  oth 
ers  how  they  stand,  or  to  discover  them  for  our 
selves  ;  or  if  both  these  are  impossible,  then 
taking  the  best  of  human  reasonings,  that  which 


*  For  a  more  extended  account  of  Justin's  conversion,  see  Sem- 
iscb's  Life,  Writings,  and  Opinions  of  Justin  Martyr,  vol.  i.  pp.  8-1 S. 


120  CEIRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

appears  the  best  supported,  and  embarking  on 
that,  as  one  who  risks  himself  upon  a  raft,  so  to 
sail  through  life  ;  unless  one  could  be  carried 
more  safely,  or  with  less  risk,  on  a  surer  convey 
ance,  or  some  DIVINE  (Logos)  REASON." 

Hence,  also,  in  the  Second  Alcibiades,  we 
have  the  still. more  remarkable  declaration,  "  That 
we  must  wait  patiently  until  some  one,  either  a 
god,  or  some  inspired  man,  teach  us  our  moral 
and  religious  duties,  and,  as  Pallas  in  Homer 
did  to  Diorned,  remove  the  darkness  from  our 
eyes."  f 

*  Plato's  Phccdo,  78.  f  Alcib.  ii.  150. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   CENTRAL  EACE,  OR  CHRIST  AMONG  THE 
HEBREWS. 

As  in  society  at  large  we  find  a  central  power, 
in  religion  a  central  principle,  and  in  philosophy 
a  central  idea,  it  may  be  presumed,  that  in  the 
succession  of  human  affairs,  we  shall  find,  among 
the  nations,  in  a  more  or  less  perfect  form,  a  cen 
tral  or  a  chosen  people,  whether  named  church, 
theocracy,  or  kingdom  of  God.  We  may  expect 
not  only  a  succession  of  divine  facts,  maintain 
ing  religion  in  the  world,  but  a  succession  of 
individuals,  families,  and  communities,  perhaps 
some  one  community  differing  from  all  the  rest 
in  gifts,  attainments,  arid  usages,  fitted  to  retain 
and  transmit  to  all  generations,  and  finally  to 
the  whole  world,  the  principles  and  hopes  of  a 
perfect  religion.  Other  nations  may  not,  on  this 
account,  be  proscribed,  except  for  their  vices. 
Much  of  their  ignorance  and  superstition  maybe 
"  winked  at,"  or  overlooked,  at  least  for  a  season. 
In  none  of  them  will  God  leave  himself  without 
a  witness  for  the  truth  ;  but  the  state  of  the 
world  may  be  such  as  to  demand  a  chosen  peo- 


122  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

pie,  a  religious  or  prophetic  race,  who  shall  stand 
at  the  centre  of  history,  and  form  a  vehicle  or 
medium  for  the  transmission  of  the  truth  to  all 
ages,  and  its  diffusion  among  the  nations. 

This  would  be  analogous  to  the  divine  pro 
cedure  in  other  cases  ;  for  in  all  times  we  find 
central  communities,  in  the  matters  of  science, 
literature,  refinement,  arts,  legislation,  arms.  So 
also  we  find  central  families,  and  central  individ 
uals,  great  lights  in  the  world,  whose  mission 
and  ministry  have  been  a  blessing  to  all.  In 
significant,  sometimes,  in  position,  personal  at 
tractions,  and  other  gifts  of  an  external  kind, 
often,  too,  great  sufferers,  and  not  always  realiz 
ing  for  themselves  the  good  of  which  they  are 
the  chosen  depositaries,  they  have  conveyed  to 
others,  sometimes  during  their  lives,  but  oftener 
afterwards,  vast  and  permanent  benefits.  Thus 
good  of  all  sorts  is  ever  found  radiating  from 
specific  centres.  In  former  times  Greece  was 
the  central  nation  of  philosophy  and  art ;  Rome 
of  political  power  and  civil  law.  From  Plato 
sprang  the  speculative  spirit ;  from  Homer  that 
of  poetry  and  song. 

If,  then,  we  find  in  the  Hebrew  people  the  cen 
tre  of  a  pure  religion  for  ages,  it  will  not  be  a  mat 
ter  of  surprise;  for  if  we  study  them  thoroughly, 
we  shall  find  that,  in  early  times  at  least,  they 
had  the  qualifications  necessary  for  this  purpose. 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  123 

Or  if  this  be  denied  them,  as  an  original  gift  of 
nature,  it  will  be  allowed  that  they  were  dis 
ciplined  for  this  end,  and  so  successfully,  that 
they  actually  succeeded  in  maintaining  a  pure 
and  lofty  Theism,  and  transmitting  it  to  modem 
times. 

But  let  us  go  back  a  little,  and  see  how  this 
thing  was  provided  for  in  the  very  dawn  of  so 
ciety. 

Those  who  have  studied  human  nature,  and 
the  history  of  the  race,  with  the  greatest  atten 
tion,  will  not  need  to  be  told  that  it  must  have 
suffered  some  terrible  lapse.  Under  the  suppo 
sition  the  most  natural  that  can  be  formed,  that 
man  was  created  innocent  and  happy,  with  a 
pure  faith  and  a  gentle  discipline,  it  is  clear  that 
he  has  since  departed  from  God.  "  The  gold 
has  become  dim,  the  most  fine  gold  is  changed." 
The  first  Eden,  the  peaceful  reign  of  purity  and 
love,  did  not  long  continue.  The  knowledge  of 
the  true  God,  as  we  have  seen,  was  speedily  tar 
nished,  and  finally  all  but  lost  in  universal  idola 
try.  The  ancient  historical  nations,  with  one, 
perhaps  two  exceptions,  were  idolaters.*  Evil 
clung  to  the  race. 


*  We  have  said  perhaps  two,  the  reference  being  to  the  Jews  and 
the  Persians.  The  latter,  however,  were  nature  or  symbol- worship 
pers,  adorers  of  the  sun  and  fire  •,  in  this  respect,  therefore,  to  be 
classed  with  the  Peruvians. 


124  CHRIST    IN    HISTOHT. 

All  the  ancient  philosophers,  as  well  as  prophets, 
felt  this.  Plato,  who  may  be  regarded  as  repre 
senting  the  whole  Oriental  and  Occidental  worlds, 
speaks  of  it  in  various  forms,  now  as  an  ignorance, 
then  as  a  discord,  then  as  a  constitutional  neces 
sity,  and  sometimes  as  a  fatal,  eternal  duality, 
which  he  cannot  understand.  Some  ascribed  it 
to  matter.  This  was  the  notion  of  most  of  the 
Oriental  mystics,  who  thence  mortified  the  body, 
and  longed  for  absorption  in  the  divine.  The 
same  view  is  taken  by  Proclus  and  most  of  the 
Platonic  philosophers. 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  they  often  felt  it 
to  be  a  moral  perversion,  which  had  come  upon 
man,  and  which  ought'  to  be  remedied.  Nearly 
all  the  mythologies  recognize  it  as  a  fall;  and 
some  of  the  philosophers  describe  it  much  as 
the  Bible  describes  it,  as  a  fatal  departure  from 
God.  One  of  the  most  striking  things  in  all 
the  works  of  Plato  is  that  wherein  he  repre 
sents  the  soul  under  the  image  of  Glaueus,  who, 
having  bathed  in  some  fountain  of  life,  had  be 
come  immortal ;  but  losing  the  secret,  could  not 
point  out  the  fountain  to  others,  and  so  threv 
himself  into  the  sea,  to  be  swept  around  all 
shores,  by  the  violence  of  the  waves.  "  We  are 
now  telling  the  truth,"  says  Plato,  "  concerning 
it,  [the  soul,]  such  as  it  appears  at  present.  In 
deed,  we  see  it  in  the  same  condition  in  which 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  125 

they  see  the  marine  Glaucus,  in  whom  they  can 
not  discern  his  ancient  nature ;  because  the 
original  members  of  his  body  are  partly  broken 
off,  while  others  are  worn  away,  and  altogether 
he  is  damaged  by  the  waves.  Besides  this,  other 
things  are  grown  to  him,  such  as  shell  fish,  sea 
weed,  and  stones  ;  so  that  in  every  respect  he 
resembles  a  beast,  rather  than  what  he  naturally 
was.  In  such  a  condition  do  we  behold  the  soul 
under  a  thousand  evils."  *  He  adds  that  it  ought 
to  be  restored  to  its  original  condition  ;  but  alas! 
Plato  himself  seems  to  despair  of  this,  with  refer 
ence  to  the  mass  of  mankind  wholly  sunk  in  igno 
rance,  superstition,  and  vice.  How  striking  an  evi 
dence  of  the  fact,  too  well  known,  and  too  well  au 
thenticated  by  all  history,  sacred  and  profane, 
that,  at  a  very  early  period  of  the  world's  career, 
"  all  flesh  had  corrupted  its  ways  !  "  f 

God,  then,  must  provide  for  his  own.  Hence 
he  selected  individuals  and  families  to  be  recipi 
ents  of  his  truth,  and  its  teachers  to  mankind. 
There  \vere  those,  in  the  antediluvian  ages,  who 
were  styled  "  his  sons,"  and  who  preserved,  from 

*  RepiibUca,  c.  xi. 

f  Even  Theodore  Parker  says,  "  In  the  higher  stages  of  polythe 
ism  man  is  regarded  as  fallen.  He  felt  his  alienation  from  his 
Father.  Religion  looks  back  longingly  to  the  golden  age,  when 
GoxL  dwelt  familiar  with  men.  It  seeks  to  restore  the  links  broken 
out  of  the  golden  chain."  — Discourse  of  Religion,  p.  79.  See  Ap 
pendix  B. 

11* 


126  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

generation  to  generation,  the  great  principles  of 
religion.  A  Redeemer  was  promised ;  a  sacrifice 
of  reconciliation  was  provided.  Penitence  and 
prayer  were  found  available,  through  the  mercy 
of  God,  for  the  redemption  of  the  soul.  Devout 
men  called  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and 
worshipped  at  his  altars.  Enoch,  the  seventh 
from  Adam,  is  peculiarly  distinguished  as  a 
prophet  and  teacher.  Subsequent  to  this  we 
find  Noah  a  worshipper  of  the  true  God,  and  a 
preacher  of  righteousness.  Saved  from  the 
flood,  he  became  the  father  of  a  new  race,  the 
type  of  a  new  redemption.  For,  the  rescue 
from  water,  in  ancient  times,  might  have  been 
regarded  as  a  symbol  of  a  higher  deliverance 
from  sin.  The  bow  which  spanned  the  heavens 
was  a  pledge  of  hope  to  the  world.  Whatever 
view  may  be  taken  of  this  event,  such  is  its 
moral  import  and  design,  and  hence  its  profound 
impression,  not  only  upon  single  families,  but 
upon  all  the  ancient  nations.  Preserved,  in  its 
most  perfect  form,  among  patriarchal  and  He 
brew  traditions,  we  meet  with  it  in  nearly  all 
the  mythologies  of  the  more  ancient  nations. 
One  of  the  most  striking  of  these  is  the  Chaldean 
legend,  as  given  by  Berosus,  among  the  frag 
ments  of  his  history,  preserved  by  Josephus, 
Eusebius,  and  others.*  He  gives  first  the  mytho- 

*  Berosus,  we  are  aware,  is  poor  authority  with  many,  in  matters 
gtrictlv  historical.    Even  in  this  department,  however,  he  has  been 


T;IK  CENTHAL  KACE.  127 

logical  period  of  Babylonian  history,  consisting 
of  ten  kings  who  reigned  before  the  flood  ;  the 
first  of  whom,  Alorus,  corresponds  with  Adam, 
the  last,  Xesuthrus,  corresponds  with  Noah. 
With  Xesuthrus  commences  the  second  or  real 
historical  period.  Of  this  Xesuthrus  Berosus 
gives  the  following  legend:  Chronus  appeared 
to  him  in  a  dream,  and  warning  him  that  man 
kind  should  be  destroyed  by  a  flood,  commanded 
him  to  build  a  ship,  into  which,  having  previous 
ly  stocked  it  with  provisions,  and  introduced 
into  it  a  certain  number  of  fowls  and  four-footed 
beasts,  he,  with  his  friends  and  nearest  relatives, 
as  also  a  band  of  pious  men,  should  enter. 
Xesuthrus  did  as  he  was  ordered.  He  built  a 
huge  ship,  the  dimensions  of  which  are  given, 
stocked  in  the  manner  described,  in  which  he 
himself  embarked  with  his  family  and  pious  as 
sociates.  By  and  by  the  flood  came  ;  and  when 
it  began  to  abate,  he  let  fly  some  birds,  which 
soon  returned  to  the  ship.  After  a  few  clays  he 
sent  them  out  again,  and  they  came  back  with 
their  feet  darkened  with  mud  ;  but  when  for  a 
third  time  he  dismissed  them,  none  of  them  ever 
returned.  The  ark  floated  towards  the  moun 
tains  of  Armenia,  and  when  the  waters  had 

too  much  undervalued.  Niebuhr's  estimate  may  be  seen,  Lectures 
on  Ancient  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  43.  In  matters  purely  traditional,  of 
course,  all  will  admit  his  validity. 


128  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

subsided,  the  just  men  there  disembarked  and 
returned  to  Babylonia.* 

A  similar  tradition  is  found  in  the  religious 
annals  of  India.  It  is  related  in  the  Padina 
Puran  that  Satyarota,  whose  miraculous  preser 
vation  from  a  general  deluge  is  told  at  length  in 
the  Mataja,  had  three  sons,  the  eldest  of  whom 
was  called  Jyapeti,  to  whom  he  gave  all  the 
regions  to  the  north  of  the  Himalaya,  in  the 
Snowy  Mountains,  which  extend  from  sea  to  sea, 
and  of  which  Caucasus  is  a  part ;  to  Sharma? 
(corruption  for  Cham  or  Ham,)  the  countries  to 
the  south  of  these  mountains,  &c.  f  We  do 
not  present  these  legends  as  proofs  of  the  scrip 
tural  account  of  the  deluge,  but  simply  as  illus 
trations  of  the  wide-spread  influence  which 
might  have  been  exerted  by  Noah,  as  a  preacher 
of  the  truth,  upon  the  more  ancient  nations.  J 

Later   we  meet   with    Abraham,    styled    the 

*  For  an  account  of  the  Babylonian  cosmogony  and  flood,  see 
Niebuhr's  Lectures  on  Ancient  History,  vol.  i.  pp.  48-51. 

f  Asiatic  Researches,  iii.  pp.  312,  313. 

J  The  tradition  of  the  flood  must  have  spread  far  beyond  the  cen 
tral  nations  of  Asia.  We  find  it  even  among  the  legends  both  of 
the  South  and  of  the  North  American  Indians.  The  Mexicans  and 
Peruvians  have  accounts  of  its  occurrence  in  singular  coincidence 
with  the  main  features  of  the  Mosaic  narrative.  See  Humboldt's 
Researches,  ii.  65;  Clanigero,  Hist.  Mexico,  i.  204;  Thacher's 
Indian  Traits,  ii.  1-18,  149 ;  Kitto's  Bible  Illustrations,  i.  152,  154, 
where  the  reader  will  find  some  interesting  citations  on  the  subject. 
See  also  Prof.  Hitchcock,  in  the  Biblical  Repository  for  1836  ;  Icon- 
ographic  Cyclopaedia,  art.  Mexican  Mythology. 


THE    Ci:XTKAL    KACL.  121) 

"father  of  the  faithful,"  recognized  as  such  both 
by  Jews  and  Arabians,  and  by  some  of  Hie 
neighboring  nations.  He  was  called  from  "  Ur 
of  the  Chaldees,"  into  the  land  of  Canaan,  1  hat 
as  a  prince,  patriarch,  and  priest  in  his  family 
and  among  his  dependants,  he  might  found  a 
nation  of  worshippers,  who  should  be  numerous 
as  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  a  blessing  to  the  world. 

7  o 

At  this  period,  nature-worship,  and  perhaps  idol 
atry,  was  prevalent  in  Chaldea.  The  word  £/"/•, 
Abraham's  native  place,  signifies  fire^  and  is 
supposed  to  have  been  one  of  the  seats  of  Sa- 
bseari  worship,  a  sort  of  Heliopolis,  where  the 
"  host  of  heaven "  were  adored  with  supersti 
tious  rites.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  quite  evident 
that  the  family  of  Terah,  Abraham's  father,  was 
involved  in  the  prevalent  superstition,  as  we 
learn  from  Joshua  xxiv.  2  :  "  Your  fathers  dwelt 
on  the  other  side  of  the  flood  [the  River  Euphrates] 
in  old  time,  even  Tera-h,  the  father  of  Abraham, 
and  the  father  of  Nachor,  and  they  served  other 
gods."  It  is  even  asserted  by  Epiphanius  and 
others,  that  Abraham's  father  and  grandfather 
were  makers  of  idolatrous  images  ;  but  we  have 
no  means  of  verifying  such  a  statement.  Around 
the  fact  of  Abraham's  supposed  conversion  from 
idolatry,  and  his  assertion  of  a  pi; re  theism,  have 
gathered  many  striking  Orient ;•'  traditionary 
fictions,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  which  is 


130  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

the  following.  "  As  Abraham  was  walking  by 
night  from  the  grotto  where  he  was  born,  to  the 
city  of  Babylon,  he  gazed  on  the  stars  of  heaven, 
and  among  them  on  the  beautiful  planet  Venus. 
'Behold,'  said  he  within  himself,  'the  God  and 
Lord  of  the  universe  ! '  But  the  star  set  and  dis 
appeared,  and  Abraham  felt  that  the  Lord  of  the 
universe  could  not  thus  be  liable  to  change. 
Shortly  after  he  beheld  the  moon  at  the  full. 
'  Lo,'  he  cried,  '  the  divine  Creator,  the  manifest 
Deity  ! '  But  the  moon  sank  below  the  horizon, 
and  Abraham  made  the  same  reflection  as  at 
the  setting  of  the  evening  star.  All  the  rest  of 
the  night  he  passed  in  profound  rumination ;  at 
sunrise  he  stood  before  the  gates  of  Babylon, 
and  saw  the  whole  people  prostrate  in  adoration. 
'  Wondrous  orb,'  he  exclaimed,  '  thou  surely  art 
the  Creator  and  Ruler  of  all  nature !  but  thou 
too  hastest  like  the  rest  to  thy  setting!  neither 
then  art  thou  my  Creator,  my  Lord,  or  my 
God ! '" * 

The  fact,  however,  is  obvious  enough,  that 
Abraham  and  his  family  were  isolated  from  their 
idolatrous  kindred  and  people,  and  made  the 
vehicle  for  the  transmission  of  a  pure  religion  to 
their  descendants.  From  him  came  the  hope  of 
a  Messiah,  or  divine  Deliverer,  which  formed  the 
polar  star  of  the  Jewish  mind. 

*  Milman's  Hist,  of  the  Jews,  i.  p.  9. 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  131 

Thus  Abraham  commenced  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  mankind,  among  whom,  at  the  time 
of  his  birth,  idolatry,  or  nature-worship,  so  far  as 
tradition  can  teach  us,  was  prevalent,  not  only 
in  Chaldea,  his  native  land,  but  throughout  the 
world.  Nations  were  in  process  of  formation ; 
civilization  advanced  slowly  ;  the  relations  of  the 
sexes,  the  foundation  of  all  permanent  national 
prosperity,  were  uncertain ;  slavery  was  a  com 
mon  evil ;  multitudes  of  nomadic  tribes,  without 
fixed  habitations,  roamed  from  place  to  place ; 
religion,  such  as  it  was,  gradually  assumed  a 
more  narrow  and  sensual  character,  while  war 
was  conducted  with  extreme  cruelty,  prisoners 
being  tortured  or  enslaved,  at  the  caprice  of  their 
masters.  In  Egypt,  the  seat  of  ancient  civiliza 
tion,  idolatry  was  becoming  constantly  more  and 
more  gross,  while  caste  and  slavery  were  stereo 
typing  some  of  the  deepest  evils  of  its  social  and 
political  state.*  Hence  it  was  important  that,  in 
some  great  centre,  a  counteracting  power  should 
be  established  and  perpetuated,  from  which  it 
might  gradually  diffuse  itself  among  the  nations. 
Abraham  and  his  family  are  chosen  as  its  deposi 
tary.  Thus  God  enters  into  covenant  relations 
with  -man.  The  unity  of  God,  the  hope  of  a 
Messiah,  the  spirituality  of  the  human  soul,  and 
the  beauty  of  virtue,  are  involved  in  this  arrange- 

*  See  the  bas-reliefs  in  Wilkinson  find  Eoscllini 


132  CHRIST    IN    HISTO11Y. 

ment.  Idolatry  is  checked.  The  dawn  of  a 
brighter  day  rises  upon  the  world. 

To  the  same  era  is  referred  Melchizedek, 
(Melchi-Zedech,  King  of  justice,)  King  of  Salem, 
which  is  interpreted  "  King  of  peace,"  who  lived, 
according  to  some,  at  Jerusalem,  but  according 
to  others,  at  a  place  of  the  same  name  near 
Scythopolis,  where  a  ruin,  called  Melchizedek's 
palace,  was  shown  in  the  time  of  Jerome.  He 
united  in  his  own  person  the  offices  of  prince  and 
priest,  was  a  worshipper,  and,  of  course,  a  teacher 
of  the  one  eternal  God,  in  whose  name  he  blessed 
Abraham,  when  returning  from  the  conquest  of 
his  country's  invaders.  His  priestly  descent,  as 
well  as  succession,  according  to  St.  Paul,  are 
unknown.  He  stands  alone  in  history,  "without 
father  or  mother,  without  beginning  of  [priestly] 
days,  or  end  of  life,  that  is,  of  official  succession, 
•a  beautiful  type  of  the  one  great"  High  Priest 
of  our  profession,  for  whose  advent  all  the  ancient 
believers  longed. 

Whether  Job,  or  the  author  of  the  book  which 
bears  his  name,  belongs  to  this  era,  or  to  one 
subsequent,  is  an  unsettled  question.  The  book 
itself  bears  unequivocal  marks  of  a  remote  an 
tiquity,  and  teaches  a  Theism  of  the  purest  char 
acter.*  In  this  sublime  composition,  God,  as 

*  Its  reference  to  the  prevalent  Sabteism,  or  nature-worship,  the 
simplicity  of    its   diction,  the  peculiar  social  usages  which,  it  de- 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  133 

Creator,  Judge,  and  Redeemer,  is  clothed  with 
all  the  attributes  of  boundless  majesty  and  per 
fection.  His  omnipotence,  above  all,  his  infinite 
holiness  and  rnercy,  are  celebrated  in  strains  of 
the  loftiest  poetry.*  It  was  much,  in  that  early 


scribes,  the  name  of  Job's  friends,  the  absence  of  all  reference  to  the 
events  narrated  in  the  Pentateuch,  with  other  circumstances,  have 
compelled  the  most  judicious  critics  to  assign  it  to  an  epoch  ante 
rior  to  the  cxoclus,  somewhere  about  two  thousand  years  before 
Christ.  Its  authorship  has  been  ascribed  to  Moses,  but  this  is  a 
mere  conjecture,  to  which  there  are  serious  objections.  Job  him 
self  is  more  likely  to  have  been  its  author.  Even  admitting  that  in 
form  and  embellishment  it  is  imaginary,  its  principal  events  must  be 
real  occurrences.  Job  is  universally  recognized  in  the  Scriptures  as  a 
real  character.  See  the  testimonies  in  Ezekiel  xiv.  14,  and  James  v.  2. 

*  The  late  Daniel  Webster,  whose  vast  intellect  and  exquisite 
taste  fitted  him  to  appreciate  the  sublimities  of  the  old  prophetic 
writings,  regarded  the  Book  of  Job  as  the  first  of  all  epic  poems. 
Referring  to  an  interview  with  him  at  Marshfield,  the  editor  of  the 
Boston  Atlas  says,  "  He  talked  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
especially,  and  dwelt  with  unaffected  pleasure  upon  Isaiah,  the 
Psalms,  and  especially  the  Book  of  Job.  The  Book  of  Job,  he  said, 
taken  as  a  mere  work  of  literary  genius,  was  one  of  the  most  won 
derful  productions  of  any  age  or  of  any  language.  As  an  epic  poem, 
he  deemed  it  far  superior  to  either  the  Iliad  or  the  Odyssey. 

"  The  two  last,  he  said,  received  much  of  their  attraction  from  the 
mere  narration  of  warlike  deeds,  and  from  the  perilous  escapes  of 
the  chief  personages  from  death  and  slaughter ;  but  the  Book  of 
Job  was  a  purely  intellectual  narrative.  Its  power  was  shown  in  the 
dialogues  of  the  characters  introduced.  The  story  was  simple  in  its 
construction,  and  there  was  little  in  it  to  excite  the  imagination  or 
arouse  the  sympathy.  It  was  purely  an  intellectual  production,  and 
depended  upon  the  power  of  the  dialogue,  and  not  upon  the  interest 
of  the  story,  to  produce  its  effects.  This  was  considering  it  merely 
as  an  intellectual  work.  He  read  it  through  very  often,  and  always 
with  renewed  delight.  In  his  judgment  it  was  the  greatest  epic  ever 
written.  We  well  remember  his  quotation  of  some  of  the  verses  in 

12 


134  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

day,  to  be  able  to  say,  "  I  know  that  my  Re 
deemer  liveth." 

Allowing  this  book,  in  the  main,  to  be  a  real 
history,  and  not  simply  a  dramatic  or  epic  fiction, 
belonging  to  a  remote  epoch,  we  have,  soon 
after  the  age  of  Abraham,  or  a  little  later,  a  mag 
nificent  testimony  to  the  fundamental  truths  of 
religion,  and  a  decisive  evidence  that  groups  of 
individuals,  here  and  there,  worshipped  "  the  living 
and  true  God."  In  a  word,  Job,  with  Melchizedek 
and  Abraham,  belong  to  that  sacred  succession, 
through  which  flowed  the  stream  of  pure  and 
undefiled  religion,  till  the  advent  of  the  Mes 
siah  and  the  preaching  of  the  everlasting  gos 
pel. 

Abraham,  however,  is  the  principal  figure 
among  the  patriarchs  and  teachers  of  the  pa 
triarchal  age,  and  has  left  the  impress  of  his 
character  upon  much  of  the  Oriental  world.  To 
him  it  was  announced,  by  a  divine  inspiration, 
that  from  his  loins  should  proceed  a  wondrous 
race,  through  whom  the  one  eternal  Jehovah 

the  38th  chapter :  '  Then  the  Lord  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirl 
wind,  and  said,  Who  is  this  that  darkeneth  counsel  by  words  without 
knowledge  ?  Gird  up  now  thy  loins  like  a  man  ;  for  I  will  demand 
of  thee,  and  answer  thou  me.  Where  wast  thou  when  I  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  earth  ?  Declare,  if  thou  hast  understanding,'  &c. 
Mr.  Webster  was  a  fine  reader,  and  his  recitation  of  particular  pas 
sages,  to  which  he  felt  warm,  was  never  surpassed,  and  was  capable 
of  giving  the  most  exquisite  delight  to  those  who  could  appreciate 
them." 


THE    CENTRAL   RACE.  135 

should  manifest  himself  to  mankind,  and  bring 
them  into  a  new  and  peculiar  relation  with 
himself.  The  promise  was  renewed  to  Isaac,  as 
also  to  Jacob,  who,  in  his  dying  hour,  predicted 
the  coming  "  Shiloh,"  or  Peacemaker,  to  whom 
"  the  gathering  of  the  people  should  be."  * 

Thence,  as  all  our  readers  know,  sprang  the 
Hebrew  nation  —  first  nurtured  and  disciplined  in 
Canaan,  as  a  patriarchal  family ;  then  in  Egypt, 
as  a  peculiar  people  ;  then  in  the  wilderness,  for 
many  years,  as  a  wandering  tribe ;  then  again  in 
the  land  of  Canaan,  as  a  settled  nation ;  and, 
finally,  in  all  lands,  as  a  sacred  race ;  and  all 
for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  and  transmitting 
to  mankind  the  knowledge  of  one  true  God,  one 
almighty  Redeemer,  and  one  eternal  life.  . 

This  great  fact  in  the  history  of  the  Jews,  as 
a  peculiar  or  chosen  people,  is  beautifully  indi 
cated  in  the  language  of  Moses,  just  before  his 
death  —  "Remember  the  days  of  old,  consider 
the  years  of  many  generations ;  ask  thy  father 
and  he  will  show  thee,  thy  elders  and  they  will 
tell  thee.  When  the  Most  High  divided  to  the 
nations  their  inheritance,  when  he  separated  the 
sons  of  Adam,  he  set  the  bounds  of  the  people 
according  to  the  number  of  the  children  of  Israel. 
For  the  Lord's  portion  is  his  people,  Jacob  is  the 
l«t  of  his  inheritance ;  he  found  him  in  a  desert 

*  Genesis  xlix.  10. 


136  CHRIST   4X    HISTORY. 

land,  and  in  the  waste  howling  wilderness ;  he 
led  him  about,  he  instructed  him,  he  kept  him  as 
the  apple  of  his  eye.  As  an  eagle  stirrcth  up  her 
nest,  fluttereth  over  her  young,  spreadeth  abroad 
her  wings,  taketh  them,  beareth  them  on  her 
wings,  so  the  Lord  alone  did  lead  him,  and 
there  was  no  strange  god  with  him."  (Deut. 
xxxii.  8-12.) 

The  sacred  writers  do  not  disguise  the  imper 
fections  of  their  nation ;  they  dwell,  with  honest 
indignation,  on  their  frequent  apostasies  and 
perversities,  and  describe  them  as  "a  stiff- 
necked  and  rebellious  race."  The  most  terrible 
judgments  are  denounced  against  them  by  the 
prophets,  on  this  very  ground — judgments  liter 
ally,  inflicted  in  subsequent  times,  as  all  the 
world  knows;  yet  the  fact  of  their  high  and 
special  destiny,  as  the  chosen  people,  through 
whom  divine  truth  was  to  be  communicated  to 
the  world,  is  never,  for  a  moment,  lost  sight  of. 
For  this  purpose  they  were  formed  into  a  theoc 
racy,  or  priestly  nation,  governed  by  inspired 
laws  and  sanctions  ;  nay,  more,  by  the  immediate 
presence  and  guidance  of  Jehovah,  symbolized 
in  the  Shekinah,  or  luminous  appearance  called 
the  "glory  of  the  Lord,"  which  shone  above  the 
mercy  seat,  between  the  cherubim,  iirst  in  the 
tabernacle,  and  then  in  the  temple. 

Well,  indeed,  they  knew,  as  Solomon  in  his 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  137 

prayer  of  dedication  acknowledges,  that  the 
"  heaven  of  heavens  "  could  not  contain  the  in 
finite  Spirit,  whom  they  worshipped  as  "the 
living  God ; "  but  they  believed  in  the  possi 
bility  of  a  divine  manifestation,  such  as  they 
could  understand,  the  visible  outward  symbol 
of  which  was  recognized  in  the  supernatural 
splendor,  which  illumined  the  "  holy  of  holies." 
In  that  shrine,  too,  were  offered  continually  the 
sacrifice  and  incense  prescribed  by  Jehovah, 
adumbrating,  in  no  ambiguous  form,  the  one 
great  sacrifice  of  atonement,  by  which  the  world 
was  finally  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  It  thus 
became  a  centre  of  hope,  and  "  a  house  of 
prayer,"  for  all  pious  souls,  whether  in  Palestine 
or  other  lands,  until  the  true  Temple  and  the 
true  Shekinah  were  realized  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Around  it  gathered  the  hopes  of 
the  entire  Hebrew  race ;  to  this,  even  in  far 
distant  countries,  they  directed  their  devotions ; 
fulfilling,  in  this  way,  the  remarkable  words  used 
at  its  dedication  —  "  But  will  God,  indeed,  dwell 
on  the  earth  ?  Behold,  the  heaven  and  the 
heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain  thee ;  how 
much  less  this  house  that  I  have  builded!  Yet 
have  thou  respect  unto  the  prayer  of  thy  servant, 
and  to  his  supplication,  O  Lord  my  God,  to 
hearken  unto  the  cry  and  the  prayer  which  thy 
servant  prayeth  unto  thee  to-day,  that  thine 
12  * 


Io8  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

eyes  may  be  opened  towards  this  house,  night 
and  day,  even  towards  the  place  of  which  thou 
hast  said,  My  name  shall  be  there  ^  that  thou 
mayest  hearken  to  the  prayer  which  thy  servant 
shall  make  towards  this  place.  And  hearken 
thou  to  the  supplication  of  thy  servant,  and  of 
thy  people  Israel,  when  they  shall  pray  towards 
this  place ;  and  hear  thou  in  heaven,  thy  dwell 
ing-place,  and,  when  thou  hcarcst,  forgive." 
(1  Kings  viii.  27-30.) 

The  Temple  then  taught  to  the  Israelites,  and, 
through  them,  to  the  neighboring  nations,  this 
great  and  thrilling  truth,  that  Jehovah,  though 
the  infinite  and  ineffable  Spirit,  "  whom  no  man 
hath  seen,  or  can  see,"  does  manifest  himself  in 
mercy  to  man,  that  he  hears  the  prayer  of  the 
penitent,  and  restores  his  erring  child  to  his  favor 
and  image. 

With  the  same  view,  God  raised  up  among 
them  a  long  succession  of  prophets,  men  of  high 
inspiration  and  saintly  virtue,  who,  controlled  by 
the  Spirit  of  truth,  uttered  oracles  of  divine  wis 
dom,  denounced  the  judgments  of  the  Almighty 
against  sin,  and  proclaimed,  in  grand  and  pas 
sionate  numbers,  the  advent  of  the  Holy  One, 
the  Redeemer  of  Israel  and  the  hope  of  the 
world.  Moses  announced  him  as  "  the  Prophet, 
like  unto  himself,"  whom  all  were  bound  "to 
hear;"  Jacob,  as  "the  Shiloh,"  unto  whom 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  139 

'should  "the  gathering  of  the  people  be;"  Isaiah, 
as  "the  Wonderful,"  "the  Mighty  God,"  "the 
Prince  of  Peace,"  who,  while  "  making  his  soul 
an  offering  for  sin,"  should  yet  "  prolong  his 
days,"  and  reign  over  his  people  forever ;  Daniel, 
as  "  the  Ancient  of  Days,"  the  "  Messiah,"  or 
the  "Anointed  and  Princely  One;"  and  Mala- 
chi,  the  last  of  the  ancient  prophetic  line,  as 
"  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,"  who  should  "  arise 
with  healing  in  his  wings." 

They  speak  of  him  as  gentle  and  lowly,  "  de 
spised  and  rejected  of  men,  a  man  of  sorrows, 
and  acquainted  with  grief,"  and  yet  of  kingly 
might,  "  glorious  in  his  apparel,"  "  travelling  in 
the  greatness  of  his  strength,"  and  "  mighty  to 
save,"  as  David's  Son  and  David's  Lord,  the 
Sovereign  of  the  Temple,  and  the  Messenger  of 
the  Covenant;  as  u giving  his  back  to  the  smi- 
ters,  and  his  cheek  to  them  that  plucked  off  the 
hair,"  dragged  as  "  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter," 
"  stricken,  smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted,"  "num 
bered  with  transgressors,"  and  finally  "  cut  off 
out  of  the  land  of  the  living,"  by  a  premature 
and  ignominious  death  ;  and* yet  as  living,  reign 
ing,  triumphant,  a  God  confessed,  loved,  and 
adored  by  myriads,  his  power  resistless,  his  reign 
universal  and  everlasting  —  contrasts  the  most 
singular,  and  yet  the  most  singularly  fulfilled  in 
the  person  of  him,  who,  ages  after,  was  described 


140  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

by  the  last  of  the  apostles  as  "  the  Root  and  Off 
spring  of  David,  the  Bright  and  the  Morning 
Star."  * 

The  physical  or  geographical  position  of  the 
holy  people  corresponds  to  their  character  and 
destiny.  They  were  planted  in  a  goodly  land, 
in  a  singularly  protected  but  fertile  heritage 
among  the  mountains,  with  Asia  on  the  one 
side,  and  Europe  on  the  other,  quite  near  to 
Egypt  and  Ethiopia,  and  not  far  from  Greece 
and  Rome ;  with  rivers,  roads,  and  seas  around 
them,  sufficient,  when  the  time  came,  to  link 
them  with  the  commercial,  political,  and  religious 
destiny  of  the  world. 

For  the  same  end,  they  were  made  to  pass 
through  a  severe  and  peculiar  discipline,  until 
their  idolatrous  tendency  was  completely  burned 
out,  and  the  whole  nation  became  as  much  dis 
tinguished  for  their  hatred  of  idolatry,  as,  in 
former  times,  for  their  strange  proclivity  to  this 
very  sin. 

This  was  the  true  secret  of  the  exode  from 
Egypt,  and  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  w^hich 
that  took  place ;  and  this  too  was  the  principal 
reason  of  their  long  captivity  in  "the  far  East." 

Nothing  could  be  better  fitted  than  the  exode, 
and  the  splendid  series  of  miracles  by  which  it 

*  Sec  Hengstenberg's  Christology,  passim,  for  admirable  criticisms 
and  explanations  of  the  Messianic  predictions. 


TilK    CKXTUAL    HACK.  141 

was  preceded  and  accompanied,  to  cure  their 
idolatry,  contracted  from  long  residence  and 
bondage  in  Egypt,  and  train  them  for  their  pe 
culiar  destiny  as  a  sacred  race.  The  Sun-gods 
of  Egypt,  the  sacred-  Nile,  the  holy  priesthood 
and  animals  of  pagan  adoration,  were  stultified 
and  conquered  before  the  God  of  Israel.  How 
singularly,  too,  was  Moses  prepared  for  his  high 
destiny,  nurtured  first  in  Egypt,  and  then  in  the 
far  wilderness,  alone  with  nature  and  with  God, 
a  man  of  a  simple,  energetic  mind,  withjio  pre 
tensions  to  those  oratorical  gifts  which  .gain  the 
public  attention, but  a  devout  Theist,  with  an  utter 
abhorrence  of  idolatry,  and  a  profound  sense  of 
the  all-pervading  presence  and  spirituality  of  God. 
He  appears  with  his  brother  Aaron,  more  highly 
gifted  as  a  speaker  than  himself,  in  the  presence 
of  his  people,  and  calls  upon  them  in  the  name  of 
God,  from  whom  he  had  received  his  commission, 
to  cast  off  the  bondage  of  Egypt,  and  return  to 
the  land  of  their  fathers.  Reluctant  and  doubt 
ful,  they  finally  yield  to  what  seems  to  be  the 
evident  command  of  God.  Application  is  then 
made  to  the  Emperor  of  Egypt,  who,  like  other 
Oriental  rnonarchs,  probably  held  open  court 
to  hear  ihe  petitions  and  try  the  causes  of 
his  people,  for  permission,  at  the  command  of 
God,  to  pass  into  the  wilderness,  to  offer  a 
solemn  sacrifice.  This  is  peremptorily  denied ; 


142  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

new  burdens  are  imposed  upon  the  people,  who 
murmur  against  Moses  and  Aaron,  as  the  cause 
of  these  calamities.  Then  the  contest  between 
Theism  and  idolatry,  freedom  and  despotism  be 
gins.  Moses  had  come  from  converse,  in  the 
wilderness,  with  the  ineffable  "  I  am  that  I  am," 
and  presented  his  claims  to  attention,  in  the 
name  of  the  God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of 
Jacob,  who  appeared  to  him  in  the  bush.  He 
must  therefore  vindicate  his  commission,  and 
prove,  before  all,  the  supremacy  of  Jehovah,  in 
whose  name  he  acted.  How  this  was  accom 
plished,  the  following  extract  from  Milman's 
History  of  the  Jews  will  strikingly  show.  "  Again 
they  [Moses  and  Aaron]  appear  in  the  royal 
presence,  having  announced,  it  should  seem,  their 
pretensions  to  miraculous  powers  ;  and  now  com 
menced  a  contest,  unequal,  it  would  at  first  appear, 
between  two  individuals  of  an  enslaved  people, 
and  the  whole  skill,  knowledge,  or  artifice  of  the 
Egyptian  priesthood,  whose  sacred  authority  was 
universally  acknowledged ;  their  intimate  ac 
quaintance  with  all  the  secrets  of  nature  exten 
sive  ;  their  reputation  for  magical  powers  firmly 
established  with  the  vulgar.  The  names  of  the 
principal  opponents  of  Moses,  Janne-s  and  Jam- 
bres,  are  reported  by  St.  Paul  from  Jewish  tra 
ditions  ;  and  it  is  curious  that  in  Pliny  and 
Apuleius  the  names  of  Moses  and  Jannes  are 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  143 

recorded   as   celebrated   proficients   in    magical 
arts. 

"  The  contest  began  in  the  presence  of  the 
king.  Aaron  cast  down  his  rod,  which  was  in 
stantaneously  transformed  into  a  serpent.  The 
magicians  performed  the  same  feat.  The  dex 
terous  tricks  which  the  Eastern  and  African  jug 
glers  play  with  serpents  will  easily  account  for 
this  without  any  supernatural  assistance.  It 
might  be  done  either  by  adroitly  substituting 
the  serpent  for  the  rod,  or  by  causing  the  ser 
pent  to  assume  a  stiff  appearance  like  a  rod  or 
staff,  which,  being  cast  down  on  the  ground, 
might  become  again  pliant  and  animated.  But 
Aaron's  serpent  swallowed  up  the  rest  —  a  cir 
cumstance,  however  extraordinary,  yet  not  likely 
to  work  conviction  upon  a  people  familiar  with 
such  feats,  which  they  ascribed  to  magic.  Still 
the  slaves  had  now  assumed  courage,  their  de 
mands  were  more  peremptory,  their  wonders 
more  general  and  public.  The  plagues  of  Egypt, 
which  successively  afflicted  the  priesthood,  the 
king,  and  almost  every  deity  honored  in  their 
comprehensive  pantheon,  which  infected  every 
element,  and  rose,  in  terrible  gradation,  one  above 
the  other,  now  began.  Pharaoh  was  standing 
on  the  brink  of  the  sacred  river,  the  great  object 
of  Egyptian  adoration,  not  improbably  in  the 
performance  of  some  ceremonial  ablution,  or 


144  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

making  an  offering  to  the  native  deity  of  the 
land.  The  leaders  of  the  Israelites  approached, 
and  renewed  their  demand  for  freedom.  It  was 
rejected ;  and  at  once  the  holy  river,  with  all  the 
waters  of  the  land,  were  turned  to  blood.  The 
fish,  many  of  which  were  objects  of  divine  wor 
ship,  perished.  Still  the  priesthood  were  not  yet 
baffled.  The  Egyptians  having  dug  for  fresh 
and  pure  water  in  some  of  these  artificial  tanks 
or  reservoirs,  the  magicians  contrived  to  effect  a 
similar  change.  As  their  holy  abhorrence  of 
blood  would  probably  prevent  them  from  dis 
charging  so  impure  a  fluid  into  the  new  reser 
voirs,  they  might,  without  great  difficulty,  produce 
the  appearance  by  some  secret  and  chemical 
means.  .  The  waters  of  the  Nile,  it  is  well  known, 
about  their  period  of  increase,  usually  assume  a 
red  tinge,  either  from  the  color  of  the  Ethiopian 
soil,  which  is  washed  down,  or  from  a  number 
of  insects  of  that  color.  Writers  who  endeavor 
to  account  for  these  miracles  by  natural  means, 
suppose  that  Moses  took  the  opportunity  of  this 
periodical  change  to  terrify  the  superstitious 
Egyptians.  Yet  that  Moses  should  place  any 
reliance  on,  or  the  Egyptians  feel  the  least  ap 
prehension  at,  an  ordinary  occurrence,  which 
took  place  every  year,  seems  little  less  incredible 
than  the  miracle  itself.  For  seven  days  the  god 
of  the  river  was  thus  rebuked  before  the  God  of 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  145 

the  stranger ;  instead  of  the  soft  and  delicious 
water,  spoken  of  by  travellers  as  peculiarly  grate 
ful  to  the  taste,  the  foetid  stream  ran  with  that 
of  which  the  Egyptians  had  the  greatest  abhor 
rence.  To  shed,  or  even  to  behold  blood,  was 
repugnant  to  all  their  feelings  and  prejudices. 
Still  the  king  was  inflexible,  and  from  the  sacred 
stream  was  derived  the  second  plague.  The 
whole  land  was  suddenly  covered  with  frogs. 
The  houses,  the  chambers,  even  the  places  where 
they  prepared  their  food,  swarmed  with  these 
loathsome  reptiles.  It  is  undoubtedly  possible 
that  the  corrupted  waters  might  quicken  the  birth 
of  these  creatures,  the  spawn  of  which  abounded 
in  all  the  marshy  and  irrigated  districts.  Hence 
the  priests  would  have  no  difficulty  in  bringing 
them  forth  in  considerable  numbers.  The  sud 
den  cessation  of  this  mischief,  at  the  prayer  of 
Moses,  is  by  far  the  most  extraordinary  part  of 
this  transaction, — in  one  day  all  the  frogs,  ex 
cept  those  in.  the  river,  were  destroyed.  So  far 
the  contest  had  been  maintained  without  mani 
fest  advantage  on  either  side.  But  the  next 
plague  reduced  the  antagonists  of  Moses  to  a 
more  difficult  predicament.  With  the  priesthood 
the  most  scrupulous  cleanliness  was  inseparable 
from  their  sanctity.  These  Bramins  of  Egypt, 
so  fastidiously  abhorrent  of  every  kind  of  per 
sonal  impurity,  that  they  shaved  every  part 
13 


146  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

which  might  possibly  harbor  vermin,  practised 
ablutions  four  times  a  day,  wore  no  garments 
but  of  the  finest  linen,  because  woollen  might 
conceal  either  filth  or  insects,  heard  with  the 
greatest  horror,  that  the  dirt  had  been  changed 
into  lice,  and  that  this  same  vermin,  thus  called 
into  existence,  was  spreading  over  the  whole 
country.  After  a  vain  attempt,  notwithstanding 
their  prejudices,  to  imitate  their  opponent,  they 
withdrew  for  the  present  from  the  contest.  But 
the  pride  of  the  king  was  not  yet  broken,  and 
the  plagues  followed  in  rapid  and  dreadful  suc 
cession.  Swarms  of  flies, 

in  unusual  numbers,  covered  the  whole  land  ;  by 
the  intercession  of  Moses  they  were  dispersed. 
Next,  all  the  cattle,  of  every  description,  were 
smitten  with  a  destructive  murrain,  all  but  those 
of  the  Israelites,  who  were  exempt  from  this  as 
from  the  former  calamity.  This  last  blow  might 
seem  to  strike  not  merely  at  the  wealth,  but  at 
an  important  part  of  the  religion  of  Egypt,  their 
animal  worship.  The  goat  worshipped  at  Men- 
des,  the  ram  at  Thebes,  the  more  general  deity, 
the  bull  Apis,  were  perhaps  involved  in  the  uni 
versal  destruction.  Still  this  is  by  no  means 
certain,  as  the  plague  seems  to  have  fallen  only 
on  the  animals  which  were  in  the  open  pastures; 
it  is  clear  that  the  war  horses  escaped.  If  this 
plague  reached  the  deities,  the  next  was  aimed 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  147 

at  the  sacred  persons  of  the  priesthood,  no  less 
than  at  the  meaner  people.  Moses  took  the 
ashes  of  the  furnace,  perhaps  the  brick  kiln  in 
which  the  wretched  slaves  were  laboring,  cast 
them  into  the  air,  and  where  they  fell  the  skin 
broke  out  in  boils.  The  magicians,  in  terror  and 
bodily  anguish,  fled  away.  It  is  impossible  to 
read  the  following  passage  from  Plutarch,  with 
out  observing  so  remarkable  a  coincidence  be 
tween  the  significant  action  of  Moses  and  the 
Egyptian  rite,  as  to  leave  little  doubt  that  some 
allusion  was  intended.  '  In  the  city  of  Eilithuia,' 
as  Manetho  relates,  calling  them  Typhonian,  (as 
sacrificed  to  Typhon,)  '  they  burned  men  alive, 
and  winnowing  their  ashes,  scattered  them  in  the 
air  and  dispersed  them.'  The  usual  objects  of 
these  sacrifices  were  people  with  red  hair,  doubt 
less  their  old  enemies  the  shepherds.  Had  any 
of  the  Israelites  suffered  in  these  horrid  furnaces, 
it  would  add  singular  force  and  justice  to  the 
punishment  inflicted  on  the  priests  and  people. 
It  would  thus  have  been  from  the  ashes  of  their 
own  victims,  that  their  skins  were  burning  with 
insufferable  agony,  and  breaking  out  into  loath 
some  disease.  The  next  plague,  though  in  most 
tropical  climates  it  would  have  been  an  ordinary 
occurrence,  in  Egypt  was  an  event  as  unusual 
as  alarming.  All  ancient  and  modern  writers 
agree  that  rain,  though  by  no  means  unknown, 


148  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

falls  but  seldom  in  that  country.  It  appears  to 
be  rather  less  uncommon  now  than  formerly. 
According  to  Herodotus,  it  rained  once  at 
Thebes,  and  the  circumstance  excited  general 
apprehension.  '  There,  at  present,'  says  Belzoni, 
'  two  or  three  days  of  moderate  rain  generally 
occur  during  the  winter.'  But  lower  down,  in 
the  part  of  the  valley  where  these  events  took 
place,  it  is  still  an  uncommon,  though  not  an 
unprecedented  phenomenon.  Hasselquist  saw 
it  rain  at  Alexandria,  and  other  parts  of  the 
Delta  ;  Pocock  saw  even  hail  at  Faiume.  Or 
dinarily,  however,  the  Nile,  with  its  periodical 
overflow  and  constant  exhalations,  supplies  the 
want  of  the  cool  and  refreshing  shower.  Now, 
according  to  the  prediction  of  Moses,  a  tremen 
dous  tempest  burst  over  the  country.  Thunder 
and  hail,  and  fire  mingled  with  the  hail,  l  that 
ran  upon  the  ground,'  rent  the  branches  from  the 
trees,  and  laid  prostrate  the  whole  harvest.  From 
the  cultivation  o"f  flax,  Egypt  possessed  the  great 
linen  manufacture  of  the  ancient  world ;  on  the 
barley  the  common  people  depended  for  their  usual 
drink,  the  rich  soil  of  Egypt  in  general  being 
unfit  for  the  vine.  Both  these  crops  were  totally 
destroyed.  The  rye  and  the  wheat,  being  later, 
escaped.  This  tempest  must,  therefore,  have 
tajken  place  at  the  beginning  of  March.  By 
this  time  the  inflexible  obstinacy  of  the  king 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  149 

began  to  fail ;  on  the  deliverance  of  the  country 
from  this  dreadful  visitation,  he  engaged  to  re 
lease  the  bondmen.  At  the  word  of  Moses  the 
storm  ceased.  Still,  to  deprive  the  whole  land 
of  so  valuable  a  body  of  slaves,  seemed  too  great 
a  sacrifice  to  the  policy,  and  too  humiliating  a 
concession  to  the  pride  of  the  monarch.  To 
complete  the  desolation  of  the  country,  the  corn 
lands  were  next  laid  waste  by  other  means  of 
destruction.  The  situation  of  Egypt  usually 
secures  the  country  from  that  worst  enemy  to 
the  fertility  of  the  Asiatic  provinces,  the  locusts. 
As  these  insects  fly  in  general  from  east  to  west, 
and  cannot  remain  on  the  wing  for  any  length 
of  time,  the  width  of  the  Red  Sea  presents  a 
secure  barrier  to  their  invasions.  Their  dreadful 
ravage  is  scarcely  exaggerated  by  the  strong 
images  of  the  prophets,  particularly  the  sublime 
description  in  Joel.  Where  they  alight,  all  vege 
tation  at  once  disappears  ;  not  a  blade  of  grass, 
not  a  leaf,  escapes  them  ;  the  soil  seems  as  if  it 
were  burnt  up  by  fire  ;  they  obscure  the  sun  as 
with  a  cloud ;  they  cover  sometimes  a  space  of 
nine  miles,  and  thus  they  march  on  in  their  regu 
lar  files,  till  '  the  land  which  was  as  the  garden  of 
Eden  before  them,  behind  them  is  a  desolate  wil 
derness.9  Such  was  the  next  visitation  which 
came  to  glean  the  few  remaining  signs  of  the 
accustomed  abundance  of  Egypt,  spared  by  the 
13* 


150  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

tempest.  A  strong  and  regular  east  wind  brought 
the  fatal  cloud  from  the  Arabian  shore,  or,  ac 
cording  to  the  Septuagint  translation,  a  south 
wind  from  the  regions  of  Abyssinia.  The  court 
now  began  to  murmur  at  the  unbending  spirit 
of  the  king ;  on  the  intimation  of  this  new 
calamity,  he  had  determined  to  come  to  terms. 
He  offered  to  permit  all  the  adults  to  depart,  but 
insisted  on  retaining  the  children,  either  as  host 
ages  for  the  return  of  the  parents,  or  in  order  to 
perpetuate  a  race  of  slaves  for  the  future.  Now 
he  was  for  an  instant  inclined  to  yield  this  point ; 
but  when  the  west  wind  had  driven  these  destroy 
ing  ravagers  into  the  sea,  he  recalled  all  his  con 
cessions,  and  continued  steadfast  in  his  former 
resolutions  of  resistance  to  the  utmost.  At 
length,  therefore,  their  great  divinity,  the  Sun, 
was  to  be  put  to  shame  before  the  God  of  the 
slave  and  the  stranger.  For  three  whole  days, 
as  Moses  stretched  his  hand  toward  heaven,  a 
darkness,  described  with  unexampled  force  as  a 

DARKNESS    THAT    MIGHT     BE    FELT,    Overspread   the 

land ;  not  merely  was  the  sun  unable  to  pene 
trate  the  gloom,  and  enlighten  his  favored  land, 
but  they  could  distinguish  nothing,  and  were 
constrained  to  sit  in  awe-struck  inactivity.  The 
king  would  now  gladly  consent  to  the  departure 
of  the  whole  race,  children  as  well  as  grown-up 
men  ;  yet,  as  all  the  latter  plagues,  the  flies,  the 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  151 

murrain,  the  hail,  1he  locusts,  the  darkness  had 
spared  the  land  of  Goshen,  the  cattle  of  that 
district,  in  the  exhausted  state  of  the  country, 
was  invaluable  ;  he  demands  that  these  should 
be  surrendered  as  the  price  of  freedom.  ;  Our 
cattle  also  shall  go  with  us,  not  a  hoof  shall  be 
left  behind,'  replies  his  inexorable  antagonist. 
Thus,  then,  the  whole  kingdom  of  Egypt  had 
been  laid  waste  by  successive  calamities  ;  the 
cruelty  of  the  oppressors  had  been  dreadfully 
avenged  ;  all  classes  had  suffered  in  the  undis- 
crixninating  desolation.  Their  pride  had  been 
humbled  ;  their  most  sacred  prejudices  wounded ; 
the  Nile  had  been  contaminated  ;  their  dwellings 
polluted  by  loathsome  reptiles  ;  their  cleanly  per 
sons  defiled  by  vermin ;  their  pure  air  had 
swarmed  with  troublesome  insects ;  their  cattle 
had  perished  by  a  dreadful  malady  ;  their  bodies 
broken  out  with  a  filthy  disease ;  their  early  har 
vest  had  been  destroyed  by  the  hail,  the  latter  by 
the  locusts  ;.  an  awful  darkness  had  enveloped 
them  for  three  days,  but  still  the  deliverance  was 
to  be  extorted  by  a  calamity  more  dreadful  than 
all  these.  The  Israelites  will  not  depart  poor 
and  empty  handed ;  they  will  receive  some  com 
pensation  for  their  years  of  hard  and  cruel  ser 
vitude  ;  they  levy  on  their  awe-struck  masters 
contributions  in  gold,  silver,  and  jewels.  Some, 
especially  later  writers,  have  supposed  that  they 


152  CHRIST    IN    1IISTOIIY. 

exacted  these  gifts  by  main  force,  and  with  arms 
in  their  hands.  Undoubtedly,  though  the  Isra 
elites  appear  to  have  offered  no  resistance  to  the 
Egyptian  horsemen  and  chariots  which  pursued 
them  in  the  desert,  they  fight  with  the  Amalek- 
ites,  and  afterward  arrive,  an  armed  people,  on 
the  borders  of  Canaan.  Josephus  accounts  for 
this,  but  not  quite  satisfactorily,  by  supposing 
that  they  got  possession  of  the  arms  of  the 
Egyptians,  washed  ashore  after  their  destruction 
in  the  Red  Sea.  But  the  general  awe  and  con 
fusion  are  sufficient  to  explain  the  facility  with 
which  the  Israelites  collected  these  treasures. 
The  slaves  had  become  objects  of  superstitious 
terror ;  to  propitiate  them  with  gifts  was  natural, 
and  their  leader  authorized  their  reception  of  all 
presents  which  might  thus  be  offered.  The  night 
drew  on,  the  last  night  of  servitude  to  the  people 
of  Israel,  a  night  of  unprecedented  horror  to  the 
ancient  kingdom  of  Egypt.  The  Hebrews  were 
employed  in  celebrating  that  remarkable  rite, 
which  they  have  observed  for  ages  down  to  the 
present  day.  The  Passover,  the  memorial  that 
God  passed  over  them  when  he  destroyed  the 
first  born  of  all  Egypt,  has  been  kept  under  this 
significant  name,  and  still  is  kept  as  the  memo 
rial  of  their  deliverance  from  Egypt,  by  every 
faithful  descendant  of  Abraham.  Each  family 
was  to  sacrifice  a  lamb  without  blemish,  to 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  153 

anoint  their  door  posts  and  the  lintels  of  their 
houses  with  its  blood,  and  to  feast  upon  the  re 
mainder.  The  sacrifice  was  over,  the  feast  con 
cluded,  when  that  dreadful  event  took  place, 
which  it  would  be  presumptuous  profanation  to 
relate,  except  in  the  words  of  the  Hebrew  annal 
ist.  '  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  at  midnight  the 
Lord  smote  all  the  first  bom  in  the  land  of  Egypt, 
from  the  first  born  of  Pharaoh,  that  sat  on  the 
throne,  unto  the  first  bom  of  the  captive  that 
was  in  the  dungeon,  and  all  the  first  born  of  the 
cattle.  And  Pharaoh  rose  up  in  the  night,  he 
and  all  his  servants,  and  all  the  Egyptians  ;  and 
there  was  a  great  cry  in  Egypt,  for  there  was 
not  a  house  where  there  was  not  one  dead.' 
The  horrors  of  this  night  may  be  better  con 
ceived,  when  we  call  to  mind  that  the  Egyptians 
were  noted  for  the  wild  and  frantic  wailings 
with  which  they  lamented  their  dead.  Scream 
ing  women  rush  about  with  dishevelled  hair, 
troops  of  people  assemble  in  tumultuous  com 
miseration  around  the  house,  where  a  single 
corpse  is  laid  out — and  now  every  house  and 
every  family  had  its  victim.  Hebrew  tradition 
has  increased  the  horror  of  the  calamity,  assert 
ing  that  the  temples  were  shaken,  the  idols  over 
thrown,  the  sacred  animals,  chosen  as  the  first 
born,  involved  in  the  universal  destruction. 
While  every  household  of  Egypt  was  occupied 


154  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

• 

in  its  share  of  the  general  calamity,  the  people 
of  Israel,  probably  drawn  together  during  the 
suspension  of  all  labor,  caused  by  the  former 
calamities,  or  assembled  in  Gosh  en  to  celebrate 
the  new  national  festival  already  organized  by  a 
sort  of  discipline  among  the  separate  tribes ; 
with  all  their  flocks  and  herds,  with  sufficient 
provisions  .for  an  immediate  supply,  and  with 
the  booty  they  had  extorted  from  their  masters, 
stood  prepared  as  one  man  for  the  signal  of  de 
parture.  Daring  the  night  the  permission,  or 
rather  entreaty,  that  they  would  instantly  evacu 
ate  the  country,  arrived,  yet  no  one  stirred  before 
the  morning,  perhaps  apprehensive  lest  the 
slaughter  should  be  attributed  to  them,  or  in  re 
ligious  fear  of  encountering  the  angel  of  destruc 
tion.  The  Egyptians  became  only  anxious  to 
accelerate  their  departure,  and  thus  the  Hebrew 
people  set  forth  to  seek  a  land  of  freedom,  bear 
ing  with  them  the  bones  of  their  great  ancestor 
Joseph." 

Thus  were  the  Jews  organized,  and  fairly  com 
mitted  before  the  world  as  the  chosen  people,  and 
submitted  to  that  long  train  of  change  and  disci 
pline,  by  which  they  were  fitted  to  be  the  vehicle 
for  communicating  the  truth  of  God,  to  the  na 
tions  of  the  modern  civilized  world. 

Hence  their  long  sojourn  in  the  wilderness, 
their  reception  of  the  law  from  Sinai,  their  final 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  155 

planting  in  Canaan,  and  the  peculiar  institutions, 
rites,  and  usages  by  which  they  were  distinguished 
from  all  the  world  besides.  The  whole  was  in 
tended  to  extinguish  idolatry,  and  introduce  both 
among  Jews  and  Gentiles  the  reign  of  God. 

It  is  on  this  ground  we  may  justify  the  com 
mand  to  exterminate  the  Canaanites,  inveterate 
and  even  bestial  idolaters,  indulging  as  they  did 
in  the  grossest  sensuality,  and  making  their  chil 
dren  pass  through  the  fire  to  Moloch.  It  was  ab 
solutely  necessary  to  the  preservation  among  the 
Jews  of  any  thing  like  purity  of  character,  or  spir 
ituality  of  worship.  Nothing,  indeed,  but  a  spe 
cial  divine  injunction  could  legalize  the  proce 
dure  ;  but  this  given,  it  was  found  the  strongest 
protest  against  idolatry,  and  the  most  effectual 
means  of  preserving  the  national  virtue.  Had  it 
been  fully  carried  out,  the  Jews  would  have  re 
mained  in  their  own  land,  a  beacon  light  to  the 
surrounding  nations.  That  many  of  the  Ca 
naanites  were  left  in  the  country,  and  permitted 
to  form  alliances  with  Hebrew  families,  and 
finally,  through  the  influence  of  Jeroboam  and 
others,  "  who  made  Israel  to  sin,"  to  introduce 
their  pagan  rites  among  the  Jews,  is  a  fact  well 
known.  It  is  also  the  only  one  which  accounts 
for  their  final  apostasy,  from  the  fatal  conse 
quences  of  which  they  were  saved  only  by  foreign 
exile.  Their  long  captivity  under  the  kings  of 


156  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Chaldea  and  Persia,  brought  out  more  distinctly 
the  national  character,  and  finally  saved  them 
from  idolatry. 

Being  separated  at  first,  as  was  meet,  from  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  by  a  severe,  and  what 
some  have  deemed  a  barbarous  discipline,  they 
were  subsequently,  by  a  series  of  the  most  sin 
gular  dispersions,  such  as  no  other  nation  has 
ever  experienced  without  extinction — war,  mi 
gration  and  commerce,  intestine  divisions  and  ex 
ternal  calamities  —  scattered  over  the  world  in 
Assyria,  Persia,  Greece,  and  Rome,  in  Egypt  and 
the  parts  about  Libya  and  Gyrene.  They  were 
very  numerous  in  Babylon,  where  they  long  re 
mained,  first  through  captivity,  and  then  through 
choice,  and  in  that  and  many  of  the  adjacent 
countries,  became  the  teachers  of  their  conquerors. 
They  had  synagogues  in  all  the  principal  cities 
of  Asia  Minor,  in  Persia,  and  even  in  India. 
Temple  worship  was  performed  in  Alexandria, 
and  thousands,  both  of  Jews  and  Gentiles,  in 
Egypt,  read  in  their  own  vernacular,  the  transla 
tion  of  the  Old  Testament,  called  the  Septuagint. 
Many  Jews  lived  in  Arabia,  and  so  spread  their 
Messianic  hopes  among  the  tribes  of  the  wilder 
ness,  as  well  as  among  the  more  cultivated  com 
munities  of  the  ancient  world.  Other  nations 
passed  away ;  but  they  remained,  partly  among 
the  heathen,  partly  in  their  own  land  ;  their  views 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  157 

the  same,  their  hopes  the  same.  They  had  gained 
numerous  proselytes  in  heathen  lands  about  the 
time  which  preceded  the  advent  of  Christ.  Hence 
the  universal  expectation  of  this  event,  cherished 
through  the  Oriental  world.  Hence,  especially, 
the  existence  of  this  hope  among  the  sages  of 
Babylon,  or  Arabia,  according  to  some,  and  its 
final  realization  by  the  Magi,  who  came  to  Jeru 
salem  to  worship  the  new-born  King.* 

*  See  Appendix,  Note  C. 

14 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  CENTRAL  RACE.  -  PRELUDES  AND  PREPARATIONS. 

THAT  the  Hebrews,  as  "  a  peculiar  people,"  pos 
sessed  the  character  and  performed  the  functions 
ascribed  to  them  in  the  preceding  chapter,  can 
admit  of  no  reasonable  doubt ;  for  the  fact  stands 
before  us,  account  for  it  as  we  may,  that  ancient 
history,  in  its  higher  relations,  revolved  around 
them,  and  finally  converged  at  Jerusalem  in  the 
cross  of  Christ. 

The  most  inveterate  sceptic,  at  all  familiar  with 
the  annals  of  the  past,  must  allow  that  one  of 
the  great  purposes,  served  by  this  old  Hebrew 
stock,  was  the  preparation  of  the  world  for  the 
Messiah,  and  his  actual  advent,  in  the  fulness  of 
the  times,  from  the  very  bosom  of  the  race  that 
rejected  him  as  their  king.  Strange  that  they 
should  reject  him,  and  yet  give  him  to  the  world. 
Yet  such  is  the  actual  fact.  So  that  they  and 
all  other  nations  have  been  "  as  clay  in  the  hands 
of  the  potter,"  for  the  production  of  this  sublime 
result.  Let  the  rationale  of  the  thing  be  as  it 
may  in  the  view  of  speculative  minds,  the  hand 
of  God  is  visible  in  the  whole  history  of  the  Jews, 

(158) 


THE    CENTRAL   RACE.  159 

and  of  the  neighboring  nations,  who  actually  do 
homage  to  this  politically  insignificant  race  ;  the 
consequence  of  which  is  not  only  a  Messiah,  but 
a  pure  and  perfect  religion,  a  new  era  in  history, 
a  new  power  in  the  heart  of  society,  a  new  life  in 
the  soul  of  man.  Great  is  Rome,  on  account  of 
her  colossal  power,  complete  organization,  mar 
tial  energy,  and  legal  force.  Great  also  is  Greece, 
greater  even  than  Rome,  from  the  breadth  and 
grandeur  of  her  philosophic  thought,  and,  above 
all,  from  the  exquisite  beauty  of  her  poetry  and 
art.  The  power  of  law,  and  the  grace  of  form, 
are  represented  by  these,  the  most  highly  culti 
vated  of  all  the  ancient  nations ;  but  all  this,  as 
even  the  merest  tyro  knows,  has  been  drawn  into 
the  Christian  civilization.  Blending  with  the 
idea  of  the  divine,  and  the  hope  of  a  glorious 
immortality,  and  especially  the  spirit  of  universal 
charity,  the  purest  product  of  faith,  all  that  is 
really  valuable  in  ancient  civilization  has  been  per 
petuated  through  Christ,  and  not  only  so,  but 
sublimed  to  higher  use.  Law  now  is  recognized 
as  having  its  seat  in  the  bosom  of  God,  and 
beauty  shines  upon  us,  radiant  and  immortal, 
from  the  face  of  Jesus.  Both  are  discovered  to  us 
as  eternal  powers. 

The  character  and  position,  then,  of  the  Hebrew 
race,  are  to  be  estimated  with  especial  reference  to 
Christ,  and  the  amazing  influence  thence  exerted 


160  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

in  the  history  of  mankind.  It  is  obvious,  even 
to  the  most  superficial  view,  that  the  elementary 
forces  of  modern  society  are  derived  from  this 
peculiar  nation.  Scattered  and  peeled  as  they 
have  generally  been,  and  as  they  still,  to  some 
extent,  are  ;  often  dispersed  and  trampled  upon 
by  the  nations,  and,  indeed,  with  many  obvious 
defects  of  character,  which  their  own  writers  freely 
acknowledge,  they  have  done  a  work  for  the 
world,  the  stupendous  consequences  of  which  can 
be  estimated  only  at  the  close  of  time.  The  old 
forms  of  religion  in  the  East  are  dead  or  dying. 
All  their  civilizations  are  undermined,  and  totter 
ing  to  their  fall.  Not  one  of  the  pagan  nations  is 
making  the  slightest  progress.  To  such  progress 
idolatry  and  polygamy,  the  power  of  caste  and 
the  power  of  superstition,  oppose  effectual  barriers. 
All  are  stationary,  or  absolutely  dying  out.  The 
religion  of  the  crescent,  with  some  elements  of 
power,  but  more  of  weakness,  has  long  since 
reached  its  culmination.  Its  rapid  decline  is 
obvious  to  the  world.  All  Mohammedan  com 
munities  are  suffering  from  sterility  and  weakness. 
A  vigorous  blow  from  without  would  dash  them  to 
pieces.  Judaism,  shorn  of  its  early  strength,  and 
standing  simply  as  the  nominis  umbra,  the  shad 
ow  of  a  reality,  which  has  passed  into  Christianity, 
is  ready  to  vanish  away.  Christianity  and  the 
Christian  form  of  civilization,  yet  imperfectly 


THE    CENTRAL   RACE.  1G1 

evolved,  alone  are  strong  and  progressive.  Every 
where  they  penetrate  with  their  new  views,  new 
aspirations,  and  activities.  Under  their  influence, 
industry  and  the  arts,  science  and  social  life  pros 
per.  Especially  is  this  the  case  in  those  nations 
and  communities  which  have  formed  the  clearest 
and  loftiest  conceptions  of  Christianity,  as  a  liv 
ing,  practical  power.  God  is  in  them,  because 
Christ  is  in  them.  -  And  where  God  is,  there  char 
ity,  freedom,  and  activity  abound. 

Now  to  whom,  under  God,  do  we  owe  all  this, 
but  to  that  old  Hebrew  stock,  or,  at  least,  that 
portion  of  it  who  arc  "the  true  Israelites,  to 
whom  pertaineth  the  adoption,  the  glory,  and  the 
covenants,  and  the  giving  of  the  law,  and  the 
services  of  God,  and  the  promises  ;  whose  are 
the  fathers,  and  of  whom,  as  concerning  the  flesh, 
Christ  came,  who  is  over  all,  God  blessed  for 
ever  ?  "  (Rom.  ix.  45.)  And  even  if,  by  their  rejec 
tion  of  Christ,  the  modern  Jews,  as  a  nation,  are 
"cast  away,"  have  they  not  become,  on  this  very 
account,  as  St.  Paul  shows,  "the  riches  of  the 
world  ?  "  * 

If,  then,  among  the  nations  at  large,  we  find 
a  general  preparation  for  Christ ;  if  in  this  re 
spect  Jesus,  as  "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  is 
proved  to  be  the  centre  of  a  new  spiritual  sphere, 

*  In  the  eleventh  chapter  of  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans. 

14* 


162  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

and  "the  Desire  of  all  nations,"  we  shall  find 
among  the  Hebrews  a  special  preparation,  nay, 
more  actual  "  preludings,"  as  one  of  the  English 
divines  has  called  them,  of  his  advent  and  in 
carnation.*  In  the  sphere  of  matter,  shadows 
follow  realities ;  in  that  of  religion,  they  go  be 
fore  them. 

Hence  the  various  theophanies,  or  divine  man 
ifestations  in  human  form,  granted  to  the  patri 
archs,  the  prophets,  and  the  Jewish  people  gen 
erally,  recognized  in  the  New  Testament  as  ap 
pearances  of  the  divine  Word,  or  the  Messiah. 
The  Jews  had  the  same  idea  of  God,  which  has 
approved  itself  to  the  profoundest  speculative  in 
tellects, —  Plato,  Philo,  Anselm,  Bacon,  Leibnitz, 
Newton,  Kant,  Schelling,  and  Cousin,  —  namely, 
that  the  absolute,  invisible  Jehovah,  who  is  above 
all  things,  and  yet  comprehends  all  things,  can 
never  adequately  reveal  himself  to  the  finite 
intellect.  All  passing  into  the  finite,  on  his  part, 
must  be  by  limitation.  At  least,  it  must  so  ap 
pear  to  our  faculties.  To  us,  then,  God  cannot 
be  known  in  himself,  that  is,  in  his  infinite  or 
absolute  perfection.  He  must  appear  in  an 
other  self,  the  same,  and  yet  not  the  same,  that 
is,  in  some  divine  Logos,  Son,  or  Messiah,  who, 
as  a  definite  personality,  may  reveal  himself  to 
us  in  an  august,  but  limited  and  shaded  form. 

*  Bishop  Bull. 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  163 

Hence  the  more  eminent  Hebrew  writers,  and 
among  these  the  apostles  John  and  Paul,  ascribe 
the  creation  of  the  world  to  Christ,  "  by  whom 
are  all  things,"  and  "  for  whom  are  all  things," 
and  "  in  whom  all  things  consist."  When  God 
creates,  he  goes  forth,  so  to  speak,  into  space 
and  time  ;  but  this  being  impossible  for  an  in 
finite  Essence,  he  must  go  forth  as  a  Word  or 
Image  of  himself,  in  which  sense  only,  can  God 
be  regarded  as  a  conceivable  personality.  So  that 
the  Hebrew  notion  upon  the  subject  is  founded 
in  the  very  nature  of  things,  and  commends  it 
self  to  every  thoughtful  mind.  It  is  only  thus 
that  God  can  discover  himself  to  us,  only  thus 
that  he  can  enter  into  personal  relations  with 
his  creatures.  "In  the  beginning,"  then,  "was 
the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and 
the  Word  was  God."  That  is,  the  Word  is  the 
manifested  Deity,  whether  embodied  in  the  out 
ward  universe,  or  incarnated  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ.  This  is  that  Voice,  or  Word  of 
God,  that  appeared  to  our  first  parents  in  the 
garden  of  Eden  ;  that  discovered  himself  to 
Enoch,  walking  with  him  as  a  friend ;  that  re 
vealed  himself  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  as 
their  portion,  being  familiarly  known  as  "  the 
God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,"  ap 
pearing  to  them  as  a  divine  or  angelic  man, 
often  conversing  with  them,  or  performing  on 


164  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

their  behalf  acts  of  benignity  and  help.  This 
was  the  Angel-God  adored  by  Moses  in  the 
bush,  who  discovered  himself  to  the  prophet  as 
the  "  I  am  that  I  am,"  that  is,  the  manifested 
form  of  the  absolute  and  eternal  ONE,  in  whom 
all  being  is  centred,  and  from  whom  all  life  for 
ever  flows.  God  in  Essence  is  invisible,  and 
even  inconceivable,  as  Moses  well  knew  ;  for  he 
never  lost  sight  of  his  absolute  spirituality; 
Him,  therefore,  he  could  never  behold  "  face  to 
face ;  "  but  his  Image,  or  Voice,  could  be  made 
manifest  and  conceivable  to  his  finite  reason. 
This  imaged  or  embodied  Essence,  then,  is  the 
God  who  spoke  to  Moses,  "face  to  face,"  as  one 
man  speaks  to  another,  by  visible  or  audible 
signs,  and  who,  when  the  prophet  stood  in  the 
cleft  of  the  rock,  made  his  glory  pass  before  him, 
declaring  himself  to  be  "  the  Lord,  the  Lord  God, 
merciful  and  gracious,"  whose  "face,"  that  is, 
whose  direct  and  essential  glory  could  not  be  seen, 
but  whose  "  back  parts,"  more  properly,  whose 
train,  that  is,  the  subdued  and  shadowed  reflec 
tion  of  his  ineffable  brightness,  like  the  train  of 
burnished  clouds  which  follow  the  sun,  sinking 
beneath  the  horizon,  could  alone  be  made  visible 
to  mortal  eyes.  This  was  "  the  Angel  of  his 
Presence,"  or  simply  the  Divine  Presence,  the 
Angel  of  the  Covenant,  in  whom  was  "  the 
name,"  or  nature  of  God,  and  who  went  before 


THE    CENT11AL    RACE.  165 

the  Israelites  in  their  journeyings  through  the 
wilderness;  a  fact  distinctly  recognized  in  the 
dying  address  of  St.  Stephen,  as  well  as  in  the 
language  of  the  Pentateuch.*  This,  too,  was 
"  the  Captain  of  the  Lord's  host,"  worshipped  by 
Joshua,  and  "  the  angel,"  or  rather  "  the  Lord," 
who  appeared  to  Manoah  and  his  wife,  and 
"  did  wondrously  "  with  the  sacrifice  on  the  rock. 
This,  in  fact,  is  that  "  Lord  of  hosts,"  who 
appeared  to  the  prophets,  sometimes  in  the  tem 
ple,  sometimes  in  the  wilderness,  and  sometimes 
in  their  own  humble  dwellings,  from  whom  they 
received  their  commissions,  and  whose  high  be 
hests  they  were  ever  willing  to  perform.  "  In 
the  year  that  king  Uzziah  died,"  writes  Isaiah, 
with  solemn  and  thrilling  words,  "  I  saw  also 
the  Lord  sitting  on  a  throne,  high  and  lifted  up, 
and  his  train  filled  the  temple.  Above  it  stood 
the  seraphims  :  each  one  had  six  wings ;  with 
twain  he  covered  his  feet,  and  with  twain  he  did 
fly.  And  one  cried  unto  another,  and  said, 
Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  whole 
earth  is  full  of  his  glory.  And  the  posts  of  the 
door  moved  at  the  voice  of  him  that  cried,  and 
the  house  was  filled  with  smoke.  Then  said  I, 
Woe  is  me !  for  I  am  undone ;  because  I  am  a 
man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  among  a  peo- 

*  Compare  Exodus  xxiii.  20-22 ;  xxxiii.  14,  15,  with  Acts  of  tho 
Apostles  vii.  38,  39,  and  1  Cor.  x.  41 ;  as  also  v.  9. 


166  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

pie  of  unclean  lips ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the 
King,  the  Lord  of  hosts."  *  In  a  word,  this  was 
the  manifested  Divinity,  who,  in  shadowy  form, 
discovered  himself  to  the  chosen  people,  and  who 
finally,  in  actual  human  shape,  became  incar 
nate  as  the  Son  of  God,  the  Savior  of  the  world. 
Hence  the  peculiar  phraseology  of  the  Psalms, 
in  which  this  great  truth  is  frequently  recognized : 
"  The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord ;  "  in  the  Hebrew, 
"Jehovah  said  to  my  Jehovah,  Sit  thou  on  my 
right  hand,  till  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  foot 
stool  ; "  a  passage  applied  to  himself  by  Jesus 
Christ,  who,  when  the  Pharisees,  had  admitted 
that  the  Messiah  was  the  Son  of  David,  put  to 
them  this  pertinent  question  :  "  How,  then, 
doth  David  call  him  Lord,  [Jehovah,  as  in  the 
Hebrew,]  saying,  The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord," 
&c.  ?  f 

Indeed,  the  great  truth  was  well  understood  by 
the  ancient  Hebrew  believers,  and  recognized  in 
their  whole  Talmudic  literature,  that  the  Messiah, 
who  should  spring  from  the  family  of  David,  and 
from  the  tribe  of  Judah,  was  to  be  at  once  David's 
Son  and  David's  Lord.  "  Rabbi,"  was  the  devout 
confession  of  a  true  Israelite,  when  he  discovered 


*  Isaiah  vi.  1-5.    Compare  St.  Johnxii.  31.     "  These  things  said 
Esaias  when  he  saw  his  glory." 
f  Matt.  xxii.  42-46. 


TFIE    CENTRAL    RACE.  167 

the  Messiah,  "thou  art  the  Son  of  God;  thou 
art  the  King  of  Israel !  "  * 

The  fact,  then,  is  established,  that  it  was 
among  this  strange  people  that  the  true  idea  of 
God,  manifested  as  a  distinct  personality,  through 
the  divine  Word,  was  cherished  and  perpetuated, 
and  that  religion,  in  its  severe  grandeur,  received 
its  highest  development  in  ancient  times.  When 
Pompey  entered  the  Holy  of  Holies,  in  the  tem 
ple  of  Jerusalem,  he  was  astonished  to  find  no 
image  there,  such  as  all  other  nations  worshipped. 
But  the  Hebrews  were  a  Heaven-instructed  race, 
who  recognized  the  eternal  Jehovah  as  an  infinite 
and  ineffable  Essence,  revealed  to  them  only  "  in 
part,"  and  thence  longed  for  that  more  perfect 
manifestation  of  his  glory,  in  the  coming  Messiah. 

Thus  it  is  seen,  that  the  dispensation  of  Moses, 
in  comparison  with  the  higher  form  of  religion 
under  Christ,  is  but  the  raw  spring,  to  the  reful 
gent  summer,  or  the  crude  and  somewhat  un 
sightly  root,  to  the  resplendent  flower.  Nor  is 
this  unnatural.  For  it  is  ever  God's  method, 
both  in  nature  and  in  society,  to  discover  himself, 
and  accomplish  his  designs,  by  gradual  steps  and 
processes.  The  first,  indeed,  is  as  vital  as  the 
rest,  but,  in  comparison,  it  seems  narrow  and 
defective.  For,  in  the  dark  root  lies  the  stem,  in 

*  The  various  theophanics  of  the  Old  Testament  are  given,  in  their 
order,  in  the  first  volume  of  Hengstcnberg's  Christology. 


168  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

the  stem  the  leaf  and  bud,  and  in  the  bud  the 
blushing  rose.  Cold  winter,  sterile  as  it  may 
seem,  carries  in  its  bosom  the  palpitating  spring, 
the  spring  the  radiant  summer  and  abundant 
autumn.  The  child,  too,  with  its  crude  sim 
plicity,  is  "  father  to,  the  man  ;  "  while  the  weak 
and  ill-formed  society,  governed,  perhaps,  as  a 
patriarchate  or  a  nomadic  tribe,  is  parent  to  the 
free  and  prosperous  commonwealth.  We  are 
not,  then,  to  judge  of  Judaism  by  its  unsightly 
root,  or  its  rough  and  prickly  rind ;  not  by  the 
accidental  circumstances  with  which  it  was  en 
vironed,  or  the  stormy  changes  through  which  it 
passed,  and  by  which  it  was  developed ;  not  by 
the  faults  of  its  early  members,  or  the  crimes  of 
those  who  succeeded  them ;  above  all,  we  are 
not  to  judge  of  it  by  the  obvious  imperfections  in 
legislation  and  social  life,  for  a  season  permitted, 
or  rather  overlooked,  by  Jehovah,  in  order  to  be 
finally  corrected  or  entirely  extinguished  ;  but  by 
its  interior  spirit,  its  elemental  powers,  its  grand 
spiritual  truths  —  God  and  the  soul,  the  union 
of  the  human  and  divine,  and  the  final  marriage 
of  heaven  and  earth  by  the  mediation  of  a  divine 
Messiah  —  in  a  word,  by  the  glorious  flower 
evolved  through  spiritual  forces  from  its  bosom, 
expanding  in  the  fair  sunlight,  and  filling  the 
whole  earth  with  its  heavenly  aroma. 

Some  persons,  poorly  informed  upon  the  sub- 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  169 

ject,  or  occupied  with  sceptical  prepossessions, 
have  represented  the  God  of  the  Jews  as  narrow 
and  local,  like  the  god  of  the  hills,  or  the  god  of 
the  vales,  of  whom  the  Canaanites  dreamed.*  It 
is  true,  the  Jewish  conception  of  God,  at  times, 
may  have  caught  some  such  taint;  but,  in  the 
Scriptures,  the  God  of  Israel  is  represented  ever 
as  supreme  over  all  worlds  and  all  nations ;  the 
All-mighty,  the  All-holy,  the  All-merciful,  the 
one,  living,  and  true  God,  who  created  and  who 
sustains  the  heavens  and  the  earth  ;  the  I  am  that 
I  awi;  as  if  all  being,  boundless  and  everlasting, 
belonged  to  him ;  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord 
of  lords,  "  gracious  and  long-suffering,  slow 
to  wrath,  forgiving  iniquity,  transgression,  and 
sin."  Thus  was  he  revealed  to  Moses,  and 
thus  to  all  the  prophets.  Thus  is  he  represented 
in  the  Psalms,  those  sublime  lyrics,  from  which 
poets,  in  all  ages,  have  borrowed  their  loftiest 
images  of  Him,  who  is  "  above  all,  through  all, 
and  in  all."  f 

So,  also,  it  has  been  concluded  that,  in  the  Old 
Testament,  the  immortality  of  the   soul  is  not 

*  Goethe,  for  example,  in  the  first  volume  of  his  Dichtung  nnd 
Wahrheit.  It  first  appears,  however,  in  Spinoza's  Tractatus  Thro. 
Politicus.  Of  course  it  figures  largely  in  the  works  of  Strauss,  Pur- 
ker,  and  Newman. 

f  See  Gen.  i.  1 ;  Exod.  xx.  8-12 ;  xxxi.  17 ;  Deut.  iv.  23.  Compare 
Gen.  xiv.  18-20,  xvii.  1-9,  xviii.  16-25,  xxxix.  9,  1.  20 ;  Exod.  vi.  3 ; 
Deut.  iv.  32-36 ;  Deut.  x.  14-18 ;  Psalms  ciii.  and  civ.;  Isai.  xl. 
12-18,  25-31. 

15 


170  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

recognized;  whereas  that  great  truth  is  neces 
sarily  involved  in  the  spirituality  of  God,  and 
especially  in  the  doctrine  of  his  union  and  fel 
lowship  with  man.  Long  after  the  patriarchs 
were  dead,  Jehovah  speaks  of  himself  to  Moses 
as  the  God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob, 
whence  our  Savior  deduced  the  doctrine  of  the 
spirituality  and  consequent  immortality  of  man, 
or  what  he  termed  the  doctrine  of  the  anastasis, 
or  resurrection  state,  that  is,  the  spiritual  exist 
ence  of  man  subsequent  to  death,  on  which  the 
fact  of  a  literal  resurrection  must  ultimately  be 
based,  saying,  "  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead, 
but  of  the  living."  And  not  only  our  Savior,  but 
all  the  ancient  prophets,  deduced  from  it  the 
same  great  truth ;  so  that  the  hope,  not  only  of 
the  dying,  but  of  the  living  Jew,  ever  passed  the 
precincts  of  mortality;  while  all  the  prophets 
sang  triumphantly  of  a  spiritual  and  everlasting 
kingdom  beyond  this  world  and  time.*  Long 
before  our  Savior  appeared,  the  doctrine  of  the 
spirituality  of  the  soul,  and  even  of  the  resurrec 
tion  of  the  dead,  was  strongly  held  by  the  great 

*  We  admit  that  the  immortality  of  the  BOU!  is  not  specifically 
taught  by  Moses.  So  far  as  this  is  concerned,  Warburton  is  right 
in  his  main  position.  It  does  not  follow  from  this,  however,  that  it 
is  not  implied  in  the  doctrine  of  the  spirituality  of  God,  and  of  the 
consequent  spirituality  of  man,  formed,  according  to  Moses,  in  the 
image  of  God.  It  is  taught  plainly  enough  in  other  parts  of  the  Old 
Testament.  For  the  proof  texts,  see  Jahn's  Bib.  Arch.  p.  397. 


THE    CENTKAL    KACE.  171 

body  of  the  Jewish  nation.  Dimly  and  imper 
fectly  realized,  it  is  true,  yet  still  known  and 
believed ;  a  circumstance  which  explains  two 
facts :  first,  that  the  Jews,  in  our  Savior's  time, 
in  their  conversations  with  him,  speak  often  of 
the  resurrection,  or  resurrection  state,  (e.  g.,  "  in 
the  resurrection  whose  shall  she  be  ? " )  and, 
secondly,  that,  in  the  flood  of  glory  with  which 
Christ  invested  the  doctrine,  and  in  the  vivid 
realization  which  he  gave  it,  by  his  own  resur 
rection,  and  final  ascension,  or  return  to  the 
spiritual  sphere,  he  is  justly  said  to  have 
"  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light." 

As  a  people,  whatever  their  faults  and  aber 
rations,  the  old  Hebrews  lived  under  the  govern 
ment  of  the  one  eternal  God,  "the  God  of  the 
whole  earth,"  a  practical  theocracy,  or  rather 
divine  commonwealth,  and  longed  for  the  coming 
of  the  Messiah.  Amid  all  their  corruptions  and 
dispersions,  this  was  the  polar  star  of  their  his 
tory,  their  cloud  by  day  and  pillar  of  fire  by 
night.  Among  the  hills  of  Canaan ;  on  the 
banks  of  the  sacred  Nile ;  in  the  beautiful  Da 
mascus  ;  by  the  ancient  Euphrates,  where  they 
hung  their  harps  on  the  willows ;  in  Antioch 
and  Jerusalem  ;  in  Babylon  and  Alexandria ;  in 
Corinth,  and  in  Rome;  wherever,  indeed,  they 
were  scattered  in  later  years,  this  was  the  "  conso 
lation  of  Israel."  Never  did  this  heaven-inspired 


172  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

hope  forsake  them.  In  the  strange  vicissitudes 
of  their  history,  and  even  in  their  deepest  debase 
ment,  cured  forever  of  their  idolatrous  tendencies, 
severed  completely  by  fire  and  sword,  by  famine 
and  privation,  by  spiritual  discipline  and  provi 
dential  dealing,  from  the  corrupted  mass  of 
heathenism  then  enveloping  the  globe,  and  thus 
preserved,  as  the  ark  of  truth  and  hope  amid 
the  sullen  waves,  they  never  lost  the  idea  of  one 
supreme  Jehovah,  or  the  hope  of  the  coming 
Messiah,  who  should  set  up  an  everlasting  empire 
of  righteousness  and  peace. 

That  which  in  other  nations  was  dimly  and 
imperfectly  apprehended,  associated  with  error 
and  idolatry,  or  taught  only  to  the  select  few  as 
an  esoteric  doctrine,  or  a  mere  philosophical  spec 
ulation,  was  the  common  heritage  of  this  singular 
people,  obviously  under  the  inspiration  and  gui 
dance  of  the  Almighty. 

It  is  clear,  moreover,  that  neither  the  doctrine 
of  Gocl,  nor  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  nor  of 
the  union  of  the  human  and  the  divine,  and  thence 
of  the  reunion  and  restoration  of  mankind  to  their 
common  Father,  sprang  spontaneously  from  the 
genius  of  the  Hebrew  people.  These  truths  were 
communicated  to  them  from  a  higher  source,  nay, 
drilled  into  them  by  long  and  peculiar  discipline. 
The  Jews  were  not  philosophers.  They  knew 
nothing  of  metaphysical  speculation.  The  idea 


THE  CENTRAL  RACE.  173 

had  never  dawned  upon  their  minds,  till  the  time 
of  Philo,  and  scarcely  then.  Neither  were  they 
given  to  historical  research,  or  curious  learning. 
What  they  knew,  they  knew  only  as  a  tradition, 
or  an  inspiration.  They  could  give  no  account 
of  it,  except  that  it  came  from  heaven.  This  is 
strikingly  exemplified  in  their  views  of  the  per 
fect  spirituality  of  God,  notwithstanding  their  ac 
knowledged  anthropomorphism,  and  constant  pro 
clivity  to  idolatry,  as  also  in  reference  to  the  im 
mortality  of  the  soul,  in  which,  all  admit,  the  later 
Jews  thoroughly  believed.  Indeed,  these  great 
truths  are  in  absolute  contrast  with  their  singular 
narrowness,  bigotry,  and  fickleness,  as  a  nation. 
But  God  was  their  King,  and  disciplined  them 
into  these  high  and  immortal  beliefs.  At  first 
trained  as  rude  children,  under  a  theocratic  gov 
ernment,  saying  little  of  the  far  distant  and  invis 
ible  future,  yet  clearly  holding  it  in  reserve,  they 
were  subjected  to  immediate  reward  and  punish 
ment.  Quick,  decisive,  palpable,  it  came  upon 
them  in  waving  harvests  and  joyful  prosperity,  or 
in  blighted  crops  and  sweeping  death.  Obedience 
was  the  uniform  rule,  the  clear  and  infallible  test. 
The  doctrine  of  immortality  was  safe  enough  un 
der  such  a  regimen. 

The  grand  defect  of  all  other  extant  religious 
systems   lay  in   their   idolatrous  and  licentious 
spirit.    God,  or,  if  he  was  forgotten,  the  gods  were 
15* 


174  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

materialized  and  degraded.  Faith  became  fear, 
worship  superstition,  happiness  pleasure,  if  not 
absolute  lust,*  Philosophy,  too,  even  when  it 
reached  the  idea  of  the  great  First  Cause,  reached 
it  as  a  speculation  which  could  not  be  taught  to 
the  people.  If  God  was  supposed  to  discover 
himself  in  the  flesh,  it  was  an  incarnation,  not  of 
purity  and  love,  but  of  simple  power,  or  human 
wisdom ;  nay,  more,  of  brutal  passion.  Polytheism 
clung  to  the  systems  of  the  best  thinkers,  Atha- 
nagoras,  Socrates,  Plato,  Plutarch.  Even  while 
admitting  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being,  it 
was  only  as  the  source  or  creator  of  gods,  demons, 
and  men.f  Sin  was  not  understood,  and  the  im 
mortality  of  the  soul,  sometimes  taught,  but  as 
often  doubted,  as  Cicero,  in  De  Natura  Deorum, 
over  and  over  again  informs  us,  was  regarded  sim 
ply  as  the  onward  process  in  its  eternal  transmi 
gration.  Redemption  was  longed  for,  but  never 
thoroughly  understood,  never  truly  realized.  Sin 
was  felt  as  a  horrible  discord,  and  a  desire  was 
cherished,  by  a  few,  for  that  divine  life,  that  pure 

*  Of  all  the  gods  of  Greece  and  Rome,  none  were  adored  more 
sedulously  than  Venus.  Lust  was  sanctioned  by  deification.  The 
temples,  in  later  times,  were  scenes  of  great  impurity. 

•f-  Plato  declares  that  "no  change"  ought  to  be  made  in  "any 
established  religion,"  and  he  "who  thinks  of  it  must  have  lost  his 
senses."  —  De  Legibus,  v.  Socrates  gave  it  as  a  maxim,  that  every 
one  ought  to  follow  the  religion  of  his  country.— Xenophon's  Memor 
abilia,  lib.  i.  When  charged  with  denying  the  gods  adored  by  the  pub 
lic,  he  defended  himself  from  it  as  from  a  crime.  —  Apologia,  in 
Plato. 


THE    CENTRAL    RACE.  175 

and  peaceful  condition  of  the  soul,  which  Plato 
describes  as  the  deepest  and  most  beautiful 
melody ;  *  but  if  some  attained  it,  as  charity 
may  hope,  alas!  the  great  mass  of  the  heathen 
did  not  even  know  what  it  was. 

Blood  flowed  from  innumerable  pagan  altars, 
but  it  was  a  blind  homage  to  the  gods,  or  a  sort 
of  dumb,  instinctive  confession  of  guilt,  not  a 
reasonable  and  acceptable  service,  which  exerted 
upon  the  heart  any  high  moral  influence. 

But  among  the  pious  Hebrews,  with  no  phi 
losophy,  no  literature,  no  arts,  there  existed  a  pro 
found  idea  of  the  spirituality,  eternity,  justice, 
and  compassion  of  God  ;  a  longing  for  a  true  rev 
elation  of  him  in  the  coming  Messiah,  who  should 
"  restore  all  things  ; "  a  definite  conception  of  sin, 
as  a  wrong  against  God  and  man  ;  and  a  clear 
idea  of  redemption,  through  penitence  and  faith. 
By  their  sacrifices  and  ablutions,  they  confessed 
their  guilt,  acknowledged  the  great  fact  that  life 
was  forfeited  by  sin,  and  if  restored,  must  be  re 
stored  by  another  and  higher  life.  Their  sym 
bolic  ritual  prefigured  the  one  great  sacrifice,  Je 
sus  Christ,  "  whose  blood,"  in  other  words,  whose 
life,  given  for  the  redemption  of  the  world,  "  cleans- 
eth  from  all  sin."  So  they  believed  in  God,  in 
the  soul,  in  immortality  ;  believed  these  things  as 

*  DC  Lerjibus,  i.  3. 


176  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

divine  and  authoritative  truths,  believed  them  as 
practical  and  eternal  realities ;  and  through  Christ 
have  given  them  to  the  world.  Or  rather,  we 
ought  to  say,  God,  through  them  and  the  Mes 
siah,  who  came  from  them,  has  given  these  truths 
to  the  world,  for  the  enlightenment  and  salvation 
of  all. 

For  it  came  to  pass  in  process  of  time,  that 
while  retaining  the  great  outlines  of  truth,  per 
manently  embodied  in  the  Old  Testament  Scrip 
tures,  the  Jews  gradually  lost  the  true  spirit  of 
their  ancient  faith.  Their  expected  Messiah, 
described  in  the  prophets  as  a  spiritual  Redeemer, 
came  to  be  invested  with  temporal  attributes, 
foreign  to  his  nature  and  dispensation.  He  was 
still  regarded  as  divine  in  his  origin  and  resources, 
but  this  belief  was  carnalized,  by  the  narrow  con 
ceptions  and  political  longings  of  worldly  hearts. 
Hence  in  the  days  of  the  Maccabees,  and  in  the 
age  just  preceding  the  advent  of  Christ,  they 
longed  for  the  celestial  and  the  divine,  only  that 
the  terrene  and  sensual  might  be  consummated 
and  enthroned. 

The  sect  of  the  Pharisees,  derived  from  a  word 
signifying  purity  or  separation,  which  sprang  into 
existence  during  the  reign  of  the  Asmonean 
kings,  for  the  sake  of  maintaining  the  worship  of 
God  in  its  primitive  integrity,  grew  proud  and 
ambitious,  and  finally  controlled  the  nation.  It 


THE    CENTRAL    KACE.  177 

was  only  about  sixty  years  before  Christ  1  hat  the 
brothers  Hyrcanus  and  Aristobulus  made  war 
upon  each  other  for  the  priesthood,  to  which 
was  attached  the  royal  dignity.  This  was  the 
fatal  moment  when  commenced  the  downfall  of 
the  Jewish  nation.  From  that  resulted  the  in 
terference  of  Pompey  in  the  affairs  of  Syria  ;  and 
Judea  fell  under  the  control  of  the  Romans. 
Through  their  influence  the  sovereignty  of  the 
land  passed  out  of  the  hands  of  the  native  princes, 
and  fell  into  those  of  Herod,  a  stranger  and  an 
Idumean.  Under  his  powerful  and  cruel  domin 
ion  every  thing  was  changed.  The  temple  in 
deed  was  rebuilt,  with  considerable  splendor  ;  but 
the  principles  and  usages  of  Judaism  were  fatally 
marred.  Restive  and  unhappy,  hating  the  usurper, 
and  longing  for  freedom,  the  nation  was  com 
pelled  to  be  the  slave  of  Herod,  while  Herod  him 
self  was  the  slave  of  Rome. 

It  was  then  that  the  great  body  of  the  people, 
especially  the  Pharisees,  longed,  with  deeper  in 
tensity  than  ever,  for  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  ; 
but  it  was  a  Messiah  fierce  and  conquering,  who 
might  destroy  their  enemies,  and  crown  them 
with  earthly  glory.  Whence  we  conclude  that 
it  was  only  by  a  true  incarnation,  a  divine  and 
supernatural  process,  that  Jehovah,  through  such 
a  people,  could  bring  salvation  to  1  he  world.  The 
morning  must  come  from  the  bosom  of  night; 


178  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

life  itself  must  spring  from  the  silence  of  the  grave. 
In  a  word,  God,  as  of  old,  must  say,  Let  there  be 
light!  and  the  morning  stars  shall  sing  together, 
and  all  the  sons  of  God  shout  for  joy.* 

*  Those  who  desire  further  information  on  the  topics  embraced  in 
the  two  preceding  lectures  are  referred  to  Dean  Prideaux,  Connec 
tion  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  though  this  work  is  liable  to 
some  slight  critical  abatements;  Dr.  VV.  Alexander's  (Edinburgh, 
Scotland)  Congregational  Lectures  on  the  same  subject;  Faber,  G. 
S.,  Treatise  on  the  Genius  and  Object  of  the  Pat.,  the  Levit.,  and 
the  Christian  Dispensations  ;  J.  P.  Smith's  Scripture  Testimony  to 
the  Messiah  ;  Hengstenbcrg's  Christoloyie  ;  Jahn's  Hebrew  Com 
monwealth  ;  Jahn's  Bib.  Archaeology  ;  Knobel,  Aug.,  Prophctismus 
der  Hebraer.  Volhtttndig  Darcjestellt ;  Bahr,  K.  Ch.  W.  F.,  Symbolik 
des  Mosaischcn  Cidtus ;  Barnes's  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Job ; 
Pareau  on  the  Doctrine  of  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul,  as  taught 
in  the  Book  of  Job. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    FULNESS    OF    TIME. 

HISTORY  is  like  a  river,  or  like  a  number  of 
confluent  streams,  proceeding  from  some  high 
table  land,  or  lofty  mountain  range,  rushing 
through  the  plains  beneath,  now  diverging,  then 
again  approaching,  finally  flowing  together  in 
some  common  channel,  and  by  a  single  mouth 
or  mouths  falling  into  the  sea.  One  great  prin 
ciple  or  law  predominates  over  the  whole.  All 
tend  one  way,  all  find  themselves  together  in  the 
ocean.  Thus,  from  some  common  origin  in  the 
depths  of  Asia,  we  find  mankind  diverging  into 
various  communities  and  peoples,  long  separated 
from  each  other,  then  mingled  together,  by  means 
of  war,  commerce,  literature,  religion,  and  other 
causes,  evermore  tending  in  one  direction,  and 
passing  on  to  some  common  destiny.  The  hand 
of  God  presides  over  the  rushing  millions,  evolv 
ing  grand  and  benignant  purposes,  preparing 
the  world  for  new  eras  and  revolutions,  and 
above  all  for  the  peaceful  and  eternal  reign 
of  the  Messiah.  Thus  history  has  two  as 
pects,  the  one  superficial  and  gloomy,  like  a 

(17'J) 


180  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

sea  vexed  with  storms,  the  other  clear  and  calm, 
like  the  same  sea  in  its  profounder  depths.  It 
has  two  movements,  the  one  temporary  and  tu 
multuous,  setting  in  towards  time,  the  other  per 
manent  and  majestic,  setting  in  towards  eternity. 
Hence  we  find  the  ancient  nations  brought 
together,  revolutionized,  thrown  into  new  shapes 
and  positions,  or  utterly  extinguished  in  the 
process  of  human  civilization.  But  amid  all 
changes,  there  is  an  onward  movement.  Truth 
is  preserved  among  men,  and  in  the  lapse  of 
ages,  discovered  in  greater  beauty,  comprehen 
siveness,  and  power.  Religion,  like  a  deeper  life, 
having  its  sources  in  the  infinite,  advances  to 
its  goal,  now  apparently  lost  amid  the  heav 
ing  surges  of  human  passion,  then  again  reap 
pearing  with  greater  force,  and  evidently  moving, 
with  the  progress  of  events,  to  some  august  con 
summation.  So  also  the  chosen  people,  with 
whom  it  is  mainly  deposited,  are  preserved  and 
pushed  forward,  in  connection  with  the  truth,  to 
the  same  final  issue.  Dynasties  rise  and  fall 
with  reference  to  this  alone.  It  weaves  itself, 
like  a  supernatural  agency,  which  it  really  is,  in 
all  their  affairs,  and  when  these  have  served  its 
purposes,  it  leaves  them  for  a  new,  and  perhaps 
wider  career  with  others.  Thus  God  used  the 
old  Assyrians  to  punish  his  people,  and  convey 
his  truth  into  the  remoter  Oriental  world  ;  so 


THE    FULNESS    OF   TIME.  181 

that  even  in  the  courts  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon 
he  had  witnesses  for  the  truth ;  he  used  the 
Persians  to  provide  them  a  congenial  home,  to 
restore  them  to  their  native  land,  to  rebuild  the 
temple  and  reestablish  their  ancient  worship; 
he  compelled  Alexander  of  Macedon  and  his 
early  successors,  both  in  Syria  and  Egypt,  to 
protect  them  ;  he  permitted  Antiochus  Epiph- 
anes,  by  bloody  persecution,  to  try  their  faith 
and  test  their  devotion  ;  but  he  put  "  a  hook  in 
his  nose,"  and  said,  "  Thus  far  shalt  thou  come, 
and  no  farther ;  "  finally,  he  brought  the  Romans 
to  enslave  them,  yet,  by  this  very  means,  to 
maintain,  within  certain  limits,  their  national 
integrity,  and  above  all  to  save  them  from  the 
vengeance  of  the  kings  of  Syria,  who  longed 
for  their  destruction.  By  these  and  similar 
means  he  not  only  preserved  them  in  the  land 
of  Palestine,  with  their  inspired  books,  sacred 
places,  and  Messianic  hopes,  but  he  scattered 
them  also  through  the  civilized  world,  in  Rome, 
Greece,  Egypt,  Arabia,  Syria,  Babylon,  and 
even  India,  into  which  places  they  carried  their 
peculiar  principles  and  expectations ;  so  that 
great  numbers  of  the  heathen  became  their  pros 
elytes,  and  cherished,  in  form  more  or  less  per 
fect,  their  peculiar  hopes. 

How  singularly,  in  its  external  aspects,  not  to 
speak  of  its  interior  forces,  was  the  world  pre- 
16 


182  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

pared  for  the  establishment  and  propagation  of 
Christianity ! 

It  was  a  time  of  transition  and  convergence, 
such  as  the  nations  had  never  before  seen.  The 
old  dynasties  were  subdued,  and  Rome  was 
every  where  dominant.  The  languages  of  the 
most  intelligent  and  aggressive  civilizations,  the 
Grecian  and.  the  Roman,  spread  with  the  ad 
vance  of  their  conquering  armies.  Greece  her 
self  had  fallen  into  decay,  but  her  language,  from 
a  great  variety  of  causes,  had  become  almost 
cosmopolitan.  It  was  spoken  not  only  in  its 
old  native  haunts,  but  throughout  Asia  Minor, 
and  in  many  parts  of  Syria,  especially  in  all  the 
great  centres  of  commerce  and  power,  Rome, 
Damascus,  Babylon,  Jerusalem,  Csesarea,  Anti- 
och,  and  Alexandria.  Thus  the  nations  were 
brought  together.  'Thus  the  streams  of  history 
were  converging  to  some  central  issue. 

Indeed,  that  was  a  most  peculiar  and  critical 
era,  which  closed,  in  some  sense,  the  troubled 
drama  of  the  ancient  world,  and  prepared  man 
kind  for  a  new  order  of  things. 

The  existing  religions,  and  consequent  civili 
zations,  all  of  which,  with  a  single  exception, 
embodied  the  element  of  idolatry,  and  what  is 
worse,  of  selfishness  and  lust,  had  fallen  into  a 
state  of  dotage.  Their  old  fiery  hearts  ceased  to 
beat.  A  strange  torpor  seized  them  all.  Indeed, 


THE   FULNESS    OF    TIME.  183 

mankind,  in  consequence  of  their  advancing  intel 
ligence,  had  outgrown  their  religions,  while  their 
morals  were  becoming  more  and  more  corrupt. 
The  splendid  visions  of  Grecian  polytheism  had 
long  been  tarnished.  Olympus  was  deserted.  Mag 
nificent  temples,  beautiful  poetry,  exquisite  statu 
ary  remained,  but  all  earnest  worship  was  lost. 
The  whole  was  thoroughly  penetrated  by  the  spirit 
of  doubt  and  lust.  The  stronger,  but  equally 
idolatrous  faith  of  Rome  gave  signs  of  decay. 
Like  the  civil  polity  which  it  supported,  it  was 
tottering  to  its  fall.  Superstitions  enough  re 
mained,  but  all  profound  and  coherent  faith, 
even  in  idolatry,  was  breaking  to  pieces,  and 
vanishing  away.  The  whole  array  of  the  priest 
hood  began  to  be  contemned,  nay,  what  is  more 
significant,  began  to  contemn  themselves.  Phi 
losophers,  who  despised  the  vulgar  notions,  often 
spoke  with  contempt  of  superstition ;  then  again 
urged  a  more  rational  veneration  of  the  popular 
divinities,  but  without  the  slightest  success. 
The  awe-struck  imagination  of  the  elder  pagans, 
which  prostrated  itself  in  burning  adoration  be 
fore  the  starry  host,  the  sacred  fire,  or  the 
Olympian  Jove,  could  nowhere  be  found.  Sac 
rifices  enough  were  offered,  especially  by  the 
magistrates,  but  rather  to  appease  the  hunger  of 
the  populace  than  to  attract  the  favor  of  the 
gods.  Xenophon  tells  us  that  the  common  peo- 


184  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

pie  regarded  them  only  as  a  pleasant  means  of 
securing  a  good  meal.*  The  festivals  and  cere 
monies  of  religion  were  observed  for  amusement 
and  pleasure.  They  did  more  to  corrupt,  than 
to  preserve  the  morals  of  the  people. 

A  new  era,  in  fact,  was  opening  upon  the 
world  ;  but  what  it  was  to  be  could  scarcely  be 
foretold,  by  reference  to  the  existing  state  of 
things.  For  idolatry  was  replaced  by  scepticism, 
and  scepticism  resulted  in  anarchy  and  crime. 
Atheism,  in  its  practical  forms,  was  stealing  into 
the  halls  of  legislation,  the  cabinet  of  kings,  and 
the  closets  of  philosophers,  and  with  it  the  most 
hideous  crimes.  "  Darkness  covered  the  earth, 
and  gross  darkness  the  people."  Abominable 
vices,  vices  which  we  do  not  even  name  in  this 
age  of  the  world,  polluted  every  pagan  country, 
not  as  unfrequent  and  startling  enormities,  but 
as  common  every-day  occurrences.  Indeed,  this 
taint  always  pervaded  these  countries,  especially 
Greece  and  Egypt,  and  to  some  extent  Rome ; 
for  even  Plato  and  Cicero,  in  their  pages,  refer 
familiarly,  and  by  way  of  illustration,  to  one  of 
the  most  detestable  of  these  vices.  Free  them 
selves  from  sensual  indulgence,  they  speak  of  it, 
in  such  easy  terms,  as  would  indicate  its  exten 
sive  prevalence.!  But  now  vices  of  this  kind 

*  In  his  Athen.  Rcpublica,  c.  2. 

•f  See,  in  ihePh&drus,  the  illustrations  of  love  in  its  various  forms. 
It  is  well  known  that  both  the  Epicureans  and  Stoics  allowed  and 


THE   FULNESS    OF   TIME.  185 

had  increased  to  an  amazing  extent.  Occasion 
ally  checked  by  civil  penalties,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Bacchanals  at  Rome,  they  broke  out  again 
with  fresh  energy.  Every  where,  also,  slavery, 
in  a  form  vastly  worse  than  any  thing  in  modern 
times,  pervaded  the  Roman  empire,  and  entailed 
upon  all  concerned  the  most  fatal  vices.  Life 
was  cheap,  chastity  still  cheaper ;  and  a  man, 
especially  a  patrician,  might  maim  or  murder  his 
slaves  with  impunity.  Amid  much  exterior  re 
finement,  the  greatest  brutality  of  manners  pre 
vailed.  Justice  was  sacrificed,  in  the  terrible 
struggle  of  contending  politicians,  and  the  re 
public,  so  long  the  boast  and  glory  of  Rome, 
ignominiously  fell.  The  most  astounding  de 
baucheries  were  mingled  with  the  most  terrible 
cruelties. 

Egypt,  never  distinguished  for  its  morals,  and 
Syria  under  wretched  misgovernment,  were  sunk 
in  venality  and  crime.*  Greece  was  effeminate 

defended  iraitepaaTia,  as  well  as  incest,  reckoning  these  flagitious 
crimes  among  things  (aSidfopa,)  indifferent.  The  classical  reader 
will  remember  Virgil's  Cory  don  amabat  Alcxin,  as  well  as  Horace's 
numerous  allusions  to  the  same  thing.  Plutarch  tells  us  that  even 
Solon  practised  this  monstrous  crime.  Diogenes  Laertius  says  the 
same  of  the  Stoic  Zeno. 

*  We  learn  from  Rosellini,  Wilkinson,  Bunsen,  and  others,  who 
have  made  Egyptian  history  a  special  study,  that  the  Egyptians, 
while  eminently  skilled  in  many  of  the  arts  of  life,  were  coarse  and 
disgusting  in  their  habits.  Their  very  monuments  furnish  indispu 
table  evidence  of  their  sensuality  and  cruelty.  Their  feasts  end  in 
"bestial  excesses,"  on  the  part  of  both  sexes.  Gentlemen  are 

16* 


186  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

and  powerless,  hungering,  as  of  old,  after  pleas 
ure,  but  without  the  redeeming  force  and  ele 
gance  of  former  times.  The  great  Roman  heart, 
which  swayed  the  world,  grew  gross  and  languid, 
under  the  dominion  of  cruelty  and  lust.  The 
dream  of  heroic  virtue  and  freedom  had  passed 
away.  Despotism,  unprincipled  and  capricious, 
ruled  the  nations.  The  morals  even  of  those 
called  sages,  with  few  exceptions,  were  rank  and 
bestial.  The  condition  of  the  hungry  masses, 
in  the  Roman  empire,  grew  more  and  more  in 
tolerable.  What  may  be  termed  the  higher  phi 
losophy,  not  yet  entirely  abandoned  by  thought 
ful  men,  here  and  there  shone,  like  a  vessel  on 
fire,  amid  the  fury  and  darkness  of  a  tempestuous 
night.  At  the  best,  it  never  reached  the  masses; 
and  hence  the  doctrine  of  God  and  of  the  im 
mortality  of  the  soul,  which  lingered  in  books, 
and  in  the  belief  of  a  few  lofty  souls,  left  like 
rocks  amid  the  tide  of  corruption,  exerted  upon 
the  community  no  conceivable  influence.  Nay, 
this  higher  philosophy,  at  the  time  of  which  we 
are  speaking,  was  itself  becoming  sceptical  and 
lewd.  The  reign  of  Epicureanism  was  all  but 
complete.  A  few  philosophical  spirits,  like  Cicero 
in  Rome,  or  Philo  in  Alexandria,  admired  Plato, 

carried  home  in  a  state  of  insensibility,  and  even  ladies  give  token  of 
their  preceding  intemperance.  All  know  how  licentious  was  the 
worship  of  Isis. 


THE    FULNESS    OF    TIME.  187 

and  caught  something  of  his  generous  spirit. 
Remains  of  the  Chaldean  Magi,  descendants  of 
those  associated  with  Daniel,  devoted  themselves 
to  devout  contemplation.  But  the  majority,  even 
of  thinkers,  throughout  the  bounds  of  the  civil 
ized  world,  including  Rome  and  Greece,  por 
tions  of  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Egypt,  were  the 
followers  of  a  sensual  or  sceptical  materialism. 
The  better  portion  were  Academics,  whose  dis 
tinguishing  feature,  at  this  time,  was  a  spirit  of 
universal  doubt.  While  rejecting  the  grosser 
materialism,  and  in  some  cases  living  a  virtuous 
life,  they  held  themselves  aloof  from  all  fixed 
opinions  on  the  higher  metaphysics.*  The  supe 
rior  orders  of  society  were  distinguished  only  by 
an  intenser  corruption.  Their  motto  was,  "  Let 
us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die."  Even 
their  females  had  often  to  be  put  to  death  secretly 
for  their  crimes.  The  old  Lucretian  chastity 
was  lost.  Once  distinguished  for  their  purity 
of  manners,  the  gentler  sex  were  corrupted  by  the 
coarse  and  sensual  indulgences,  which,  with 
foreign  religions,  and  abounding  luxury,  had 

*  We  learn  from  Sallust,  in  Catilina,  c.  57,  p.  309,  that  Julius 
Caesar  made  no  scruple  in  denying  before  the  people  that  man  had 
any  thing  to  hope  or  fear  after  death ;  and  even  Cato,  the  stoic 
philosopher,  in  this  applauded  his  noble  philosophical  spirit.  Cicero 
informs  us  (De  Invent  ione,  lib.  i.  c.  29,)  that  the  majority  of  the 
philosophers  of  his  day  were  considered  the  enemies  of  the  gods  and 
religion. 


188  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

infected  Rome.  Divorce  and  consequent  licen 
tiousness  of  manners  were  excessively  prevalent, 
especially  among  the  higher  classes.  Cato  the 
Censor  made  desperate,  but  vain  efforts  to  re 
store  the  ancient  simplicity  of  manners,  and 
check  the  progress  of  national  demoralization. 
The  senate,  once  the  pride  of  Rome,  on  account 
of  its  stern  integrity,  was  tainted  with  crime. 
Rome,  indeed,  even  in  her  palmiest  days,  was 
relentless  and  cruel.  But  the  gladiatorial  exhi 
bitions,  of  which  even  delicate  females  were 
passionately  fond,  grew  more  and  more  bloody. 
"Whole  hecatombs  of  men  were  sacrificed,  under 
the  eyes  of  pleasure-loving  crowds.  The  young 
patrician  beauty,  languishing  on  purple  couches, 
"  by  a  sign  of  her  jewelled  finger,"  condemned 
the  poor  gladiator  to  die,  to  amuse  herself  with 
the  sight  of  his  expiring  agonies.  The  banquets 
of  the  wealthy  were  scenes  of  debauchery.  As 
the  luxurious  Egyptians  placed  a  real  skeleton  at 
their  feasts,  to  whet  the  appetites  of  the  guests, 
and  deepen  the  pleasure  of  the  passing  hour,  so 
the  Greek  and  Roman  epicures,  on  festive  days, 
placed  upon  their  tables,  at  their  orgies,  (fit  em 
blem  of  intellectual  and  moral  despair,)  the  skel 
eton  of  ivory  or  silver,  as  a  memento  of  the 
rapidity  of  life,  and  the  duty  of  "  quick  and  un 
limited  enjoyment."  So  much  was  despair  the 
fashion  of  the  times,  that  even  Stoicism,  the  only 


THE    FULXKoS    OF    TI3IE.  189 

moral  strength  of  this  period,  was  much  less  an 
heroic  struggle  than  a  mournful  resignation.* 

The  very  poets,  rising  occasionally  in  the 
olden  time  to  the  character  of  prophets,  laughed 
to  scorn,  not  merely  the  mythologies  of  bygone 
times,  but  the  doctrines  of  the  existence  of  God, 
and  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  The  sublimest 
of  them  all,  Lucretius,  born  ninety-five  years  before 
Christ,  was  an  atheist,  and  his  spirit  only  repre 
sents  the  spirit  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,f 
Virgil  has  no  moral  character.  Horace  is  gay 
and  licentious.  Lucian  among  the  Greeks,  and 
Persius  and  Juvenal  among  the  Latins,  some 
what  later,  joke  and  sneer,  as,  perhaps,  was 
natural  in  their  circumstances,  at  all  things, 
sacred  and  profane.  In  some  of  these  writers 
the  reader  will  find  the  most  detestable  affections 
treated  with  much  detail,  as  things  of  daily 
practice,  both  among  the  vulgar  and  the  refined. 
The  temples  themselves  were  not  free  from  pol 
lution  ;  from  which  circumstance  Ovid  takes 
occasion  to  advise  those  females  who  would 
preserve  their  honor  not  to  visit  such  places.  In 
the  city  of  Rome,  according  to  Valerius  Maxi- 

*  For  an  aecoxint  of  the  private  manners  of  the  Greeks  and  Ro 
mans  see  Bekkcr's  Charicks  and  Gal/us.  See  also  Pericles,  by  one 
of  the  authors  of  Small  Books  on  Great  Subjects. 

f  The  ancients  intimate  that  Lucretius  was  somewhat  insane, 
(they  say  from  a  love  philter,)  and  that  he  wrote  his  work  under 
this  influence.  He  committed  suicide  in  his  forty-fourth  year. 


190  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

mus,  there  were  seven  thousand  Bacchanals, 
among  whose  mysteries  prostitution  and  murder 
found  a  prominent  place.  Opposed  by  the  gov 
ernment,  and  partially  suppressed,  they  were 
never  wholly  banished  from  the  city.  Crimes 
without  a  name  continued  to  be  enacted  in  their 
secret  orgies.  .  A  very  few  moralists,  chiefly 
Stoics,  said  fine  things  on  the  subject  of  virtue, 
but  could  offer  no  resistless  motives  to  enforce 
it.  The  tide  of  popular  corruption  swept  on 
ward,  in  spite  of  their  subtile  theories  and  fine 
spun  imaginings.  Their  attempts  at  reform 
were  spider  webs  to  bind  Leviathan,  straws  to 
stem  the  currents  of  the  ocean.  The  later  soph 
ists  and  rhetoricians,  a  heartless  and  infidel  race, 
controlled  the  popular  will,  and  gave  law  to  so 
ciety.  In  a  word,  "  the  foundations  were  de 
stroyed."  Old  things  were  passing  away.  Night 
and  chaos  were  enveloping  the  moral  world. 

If  any  one  should  call  this  declamation,  or 
incline  to  think  our  picture  too  deeply  colored, 
let  him  read  attentively  the  pages  of  Lucian  and 
Juvenal,  or  -let  him  visit,  as  we  have  done,  the 
disintornbed  cities  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii, 
and  especially  the  Bourbon  Museum,  at  Naples, 
in  which  are  preserved,  for  the  private  inspection 
of  scientific  gentlemen,  some  of  the  most  secret 
ornaments,  sculptures,  and  paintings,  found  both 
in  private  houses  and  in  the  temples  of  the  gods, 


THE    FULNESS    OF    TIME.  191 

and  he  will  be  satisfied  that  our  statements  are 
literally  correct.  Indeed,  persons  not  familiar 
with  the  subject  have  no  idea  of  the  extreme 
corruption  of  manners,  which  polluted  the  most 
polished  of  the  ancient  nations.  The  revolution 
effected  by  Christianity,  in  this  respect,  is  im 
mense.  Imperfect  as  it  still  is,  owing  to  partial 
development,  the  change  is  one  of  the  most 
striking  and  benignant  in  the  history  of  man.* 

*  The  following,  from  a  source  not  usually  suspected  of  over 
statement  on  such  matters,  will  corroborate  this :  "  While  religious 
scepticism  was  thus  in  the  ascendant,  morality,  public  and  private, 
had  reached  its  lowest  landmark.  Those  incitements  to  vice,  of 
which  our  laws  prohibit  even  the  sale,  were,  as  Juvenal  assures  us  in 
a  satire  (Sat.  ii.,  near  the  commencement)  specially  levelled 
against  the  sensualism  of  the  period,  publicly  paraded  in  every 
street,  and  filled  the  infant  mind  with  impressions  that  stifled  the 
development  of  its  moral  nature.  The  only  part  of  their  mythology 
for  which  the  people  seemed  to  have  any  relish,  was  that  which  ad 
ministered  to  the  passions,  so  easily  excited  ;  and  the  only  temples 
that  could  command  a  crowd  were  those  of  Flora  and  the  Bona  Dea. 
At  the  festivals  of  those  deities,  before  the  Roman  day  had  sunk  to 
its  shortlived  twilight,  crowds,  not  only  of  courtesans,  but  of  or 
derly  matrons,  might  be  seen  wending  their  way  to  the  shrines  of 
these  goddesses  in  the  Via  Sacra,  not  simply  with  unveiled  breasts, 
or  with  bodies  negligently  exposed,  but  in  an  absolute  state  of 
nudity.  In  the  spacious  and  magnificent  baths  which  the  prodigality 
of  successive  emperors  had  reared  in  the  imperial  city,  both  sexes 
were  indulged,  at  the  vile  price  of  a  farthing,  in  promiscuous  bath 
ing.  In  the  crowded  theatres,  when  the  first  scenes  of  the  play  had 
been  acted,  and  the  minds  of  the  auditors  were  inflamed  with  ob 
scene  verses,  a  sea  of  voices  usually  called  out,  Nudentur  mima, 
and  the  order  was  no  sooner  issued  than  obeyed.  —  Valerius  Maxi- 
mus,  lib.  ii.  c.  5.  Obscenities  far  more  polluting  than  any  to  be  seen 
in  the  worst  penny  theatre  that  attracts  the  dregs  of  our  London 
population,  were  enacted  in  the  Flavian  amphitheatre  for  the  amuse- 


192  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Externally,  however,  the  condition  of  the 
nations,  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  speaking, 
was  favorable  to  the  establishment  of  a  new 
system  both  of  religion  and  civilization.  The 
larger  portion  of  the  known  world  was  occupied 
by  a  single  empire,  in  whose  bosom  elements  of 
change  and  dissolution  were  at  work.  From 
beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  to  the  Caspian 
Sea,  sweeping  through  the  forests  of  Germany 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  sands  of  the  Libyan 
desert  on  the  other,  about  a  hundred  and  fifty 
millions  of  persons,  of  diversified  climate  and 
character,  were  consolidated  into  one  vast  com 
monwealth.  Diverging  from  the  city  of  Rome, 
which  might  be  called  the  metropolis  of  the 
world,  magnificent  roads  stretched  in  every  di 
rection,  connecting,  by  social  and  commercial 
ties,  distant  and  flourishing  cities.  The  old 
separate  kingdoms,  most  of  them  immobile  and 
stationary,  governed  by  caste,  and  opposed  to 
progress,  which  once  occupied  this  vast  area, 
were  broken  up,  and  a  political  brotherhood  was 


t  of  the  emperor  and  the  highest  ranks  of  Rome  ;  and  crimes  at 
which  ice  now  shudder,  as  unnatural,  cleave  to  the  greatest  names  of 
that  epoch.  Vice  had  attacked  the  foyers  of  society,  and  families 
were  expiring  so  fast  that  a  premium  was  offered  to  the  man  who 
should  transmit  a  legitimate  offspring  to  posterity.  '  Human  kind  was 
gradually  dying  out,  and  if  the  process  of  dissolution  had  continued 
unchecked  by  the  infusion  of  a  purer  blood  and  a  chaster  creed, 
the  race  must  have  become  extinct."  —  Martial  and  his  Times. 
Westminster  Review. 


THE    FULNESS    OF    TIME.  193 

established  throughout  the  bounds  of  the  civilized 
world.  It  was  a  colossal  power,  appearing  to 
grasp  and  control  the  whole  destiny  of  man. 
But  it  had  long  passed  its  meridian.  The  prev 
alent  civilization,  based  upon  idolatry,  polygamy, 
and  slavery,  was  about  to  find  its  issue.  Inter 
nal,  ever-augmenting  corruption  was  gradually 
working  its  overthrow.  In  a  word,  the  hand  of 
God,  through  natural  agencies,  seemed  to  be 
preparing  the  way  for  some  vast  and  glorious 
change,  or  for  some  deep  and  universal  catas 
trophe. 

The  condition  of  the  Jewish  people,  at  this 
time,  differed  little  from  that  of  the  neighboring 
nations,  except  in  their  hatred  of  idolatry,  their 
contempt  of  all  other  people,  and  their  hope  of  a 
conquering  Messiah.  The  vital  energy  of  their 
ancient  faith  had  given  place  to  formalism  and 
superstition.  For  a  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before  the  birth  of  Christ,  their  Mishna,  in 
which  were  embodied  "the  traditions  of  the 
elders,"  had  been  growing  in  their  esteem.*  By 
this  they  made  void  the  law  of  God,  now  all  but 
obsolete.  Hence  their  division  into  sects,  the 
Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees,  the  one  clinging 
to  traditions,  the  other  rejecting  them.  The 
Pharisees,  however,  were  by  far  the  most  power- 

*  The  Mishna  was  the  title  given  to  the  collection  of  traditions 
made  by  Rabbi  Judah  Hakkadosh,  about  B.  C.  150. 

17 


194  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

ful  party  in  the  state,  both  in  religion  and  politics. 
Ambitious  and  intriguing,  they  controlled  the 
popular  will,  and  inflamed  it  with  their  bigotries. 
Hence  they  yielded  reluctant  obedience  to  the 
ruling  monarch,  Herod  the  Idumean,  whose 
ambitious  and  selfish  character  is  well  known. 
The  Sadducees,  as  much  distinguished  for  their 
national  pride  and  intolerance  of  foreigners, 
were  equally  disaffected  to  the  government  of 
Herod,  and  longed  to  be  delivered  from  what 
they  deemed  a  degrading  servitude.  The  nation, 
therefore,  was  ripe  for  rebellion  and  political 
change. 

In  these  circumstances,  the  religion  of  their 
fathers,  yet  revered  as  a  form,  had  become  cold 
and  sterile,  a  mere  engine  of  political  strife. 
Long  had  the  Shekinah  departed  from  the  tem 
ple.  The  voice  of  its  oracles  was  dumb.  More 
free  from  the  tendency  to  idolatry  than  in  ancient 
times,  and  preserved  untarnished  in  the  ancient 
books,  Judaism  had  lost  all  regenerative  force. 
The  spirit  of  prophecy  was  extinct.  No  holy 
seers  predicted  the  glories  of  the  Messiah's  reign, 
or  denounced  the  judgments  of  God  against  the 
workers  of  iniquity.  No  Deborah  sang  under 
the  palm  tree,  between  Ramah  and  Bethel.  No 
Ezekiel  thundered  between  the  porch  and  the 
altar.  The  word  indeed  remained  ;  br^c  it  was 
a  dead  letter  to  the  great  body  of  the  people. 


THE    FULNESS    OF    TIME.  195 

The  formalism  of  the  Pharisee  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  scepticism  of  the  Sadducee  on  the 
other,  paralyzed  all  pure  and  earnest  feeling. 
The  people,  subjected  to  the  galling  oppression 
of  a  foreign  yoke,  were  discontented  and  furious. 
Unheard-of  atrocities,  which  easily  account  for 
the  subsequent  "  murder  of  the  innocents,"  no 
more  strange  or  monstrous  than  some  of  his 
other  crimes,  had  been  perpetrated  in  the  family 
of  the  elder  Herod,  whose  days  of  mingled 
splendor  and  crime  were  about  to  close,  in  horror 
and  blood. 

In  addition  to  this,  infidel  and  pagan  notions, 
introduced  through  the  influence  of  the  court, 
began  to  prevail  in  some  portions  of  Judea,  par 
ticularly  in  Cacsarea,  the  Roman  capital  of  the 
country  ;  while  the  mass  of  the  people,  especially 
in  the  larger  cities,  were  intoxicated  with  a  sav 
age  fanaticism.  Hence  the  origin  of  the  sect  or 
clique,  as  it  may  be  called,  of  the  Herodians,  who 
saw  no  harm  in  mingling  the  rites  of  heathenism 
with  the  pure  ceremonial  of  their  own  worship,  and 
whose  cringing  sycophancy  and  easy  submission 
to  a  foreign  yoke  excited  the  disgust  of  their  coun 
trymen.  Some  holy  hearts,  here  and  there,  in  the 
temple  and  among  the  mountains,  consecrated  by 
the  memories  of  the  past,  brooded  over  the  prophe 
cies,  and  longed  for  the  reign  of  God  upon  the 


196  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

earth.  The  Essenes,  the  anchorites  and  mystics 
of  the  Jewish  faith,  were  distinguished  for  their 
simplicity  of  manners  ;  but  they  lived  in  seclusion, 
and  took  no  part  in  public  affairs.  Separating 
themselves  from  their  fellow-men  as  unclean,  and 
making  no  attempt  at  the  reformation  of  others, 
they  shut  themselves  up,  in  the  profound  solitudes 
adjoining  the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  their  brethren,  the  Therapeutas, 
in  Egypt,  yet  more  distinguished  for  their  mystic 
and  ascetic  habits. 

But  the  great  body  of  the  people  were  ignorant 
and  superstitious  ;  and  though  free  from  idolatry, 
narrow  and  sensual  in  their  feelings.  They  cher 
ished,  indeed,  the  hope  of  a  Messiah,  but  so  min 
gled  with  selfish  and  fanatical  views,  that  it  rather 
exasperated  than  soothed  their  passions. 

There  prevailed,  also,  at  this  period,  even  in 
the  Roman  world,  a  wide-spread  expectation  of 
some  august  revolution,  to  be  achieved  by  the 
sudden  appearance  of  a  mighty  and  mysterious 
personage.  This  dim  idea  was  floating  about 
not  only  in  Syria,  but  in  Rome,  in  Egypt,  and 
Babylon.  So  familiar  had  it  become,  that  it  at 
tracted  the  attention  of  the  Roman  poets  and  phi 
losophers.  Virgil  is  supposed  to  refer  to  it. 
"  Among  many,"  writes  Tacitus,  "  there  was  a 
persuasion  that  in  the  ancient  books  of  the  priest- 


THE    FULNESS    OF   TIME.  197 

hood,  it  was  written,  that  at  that  precise  time  the 
East  should  become  mighty,  and  that  the  sover 
eigns  of  the  world  should  issue  from  Judea."  * 
"  In  the  East,"  says  Suetonius,  "  an  ancient  and 
consistent  opinion  prevailed,  that  it  was  fated 
there  should  issue  at  this  time  those  who  should 
obtain  universal  dominion."  f  This  general  ex 
pectation  is  to  be  traced,  doubtless,  to  the  predic 
tions  of  the  Hebrew  prophets.  Daniel's  "  weeks 
of  years  "  were  supposed  to  be  on  the  point  of 
expiring.  The  sceptre,  in  some  sense,  had  "  de 
parted  from  Judah,"  and  therefore  the  Shiloh,  or 
the  Peacemaker,  was  about  to  come.  What  he 
was  to  be,  few  indeed  understood.  The  views  of 
his  character  and  mission  were  modified  by  the 
dispositions  of  those  who  cherished  them.  Jose- 
phus,  a  shrewd,  selfish  man,  false  to  the  hopes  of 
his  nation,  false  even  to  the  principles  of  honor, 
subsequently  pretended  to  recognize  him  in  the 
person  of  the  Emperor  Vespasian !  Some  ex 
pected  a  mighty  King,  a  half  divine,  half  human 
conqueror ;  others,  but  a  comparatively  small 
number,  a  great  Moral  Reformer  or  Spiritual  Re 
deemer  ;  and  fewer  still,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Sa 
vior  of  the  world.  But  the  majority  of  the  na- 

*  In  the  language  of  Tacitus,  the  East  means  Syria.  —  History, 
T.  13. 
f  Suetonius,  Ves.  p.  4. 

17* 


198  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

tlon  looked  only  for  a  temporal  deliverer,  his  foot 
steps  tracked  with  blood,  and  his  long  reign  of 
earthly  power  and  splendor  encircling  the  globe. 

Hence  the  general  state  of  the  Jews,  though 
favorable  enough  to  political  change,  was  quite 
unfavorable  to  the  reception  and  acknowledgment 
of  a  spiritual  Messiah,  whose  peaceful  reign 
should  be  that  only  of  righteousness  and  love. 
Carnal  and  besotted,  they  were  more  likely  to 
crush  than  to  honor  the  Son  of  God. 

What  mankind  every  where  needed,  was  a  di 
vine  transformation,  a  complete  spiritual  and  in 
terior  revolution  in  the  domain  of  religion  and 
morals  ;  a  regeneration,  in  fact,  of  the  heart  and 
the  life  of  individuals  and  families  ;  and  that  con 
sequent  political  transformation,  on  the  basis  of 
which,  might  spring  up  a  new  and  more  perfect 
form  of  civilization.  But  the  idea  had  not  even 
dawned  upon  the  Grecian  or  the  Roman  mind, 
and  though  clearly  predicted  in  the  Old  Testa 
ment  Scriptures,  was  utterly  lost  sight  of  by  the 
Jewish  people. 

Indeed,  taking  the  world  as  a  whole,  it  was  a 
dark  and  godless  era.  The  race,  as  if  abandoned 
by  Heaven,  staggered  like  a  crazy  vessel  amid 
the  gathering  storm,  and  seemed  on  the  point  of 
being  forever  ingulfed. 

Yet  there  were  watchers  on  the  hills  of  Pales- 


Til;.    FULNESS    OF    TIME.  199 

tine,  and  far  off,  even  in  the  depths  of  the  Orient, 
wise  and  good  men  were  longing  for  the  coming 
of  the  Deliverer.  Long  years  had  they  brooded 
over  the  prophecies,  and  like  Simeon  and  Anna, 
hoped  to  see  the  Messiah  before  closing  their 
eyes  in  death.  But  all  was  still  in  the  heavens 
above.  A  deep  and  portentous  gloom,  unrelieved 
by  a  single  star,  brooded  over  the  world. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  ADVENT. 

WE  can  easily  imagine  the  sceptic,  at  the  era 
referred  to  in  the  preceding  chapter,  pouring  infi 
nite  scorn  on  the  predictions  of  the  Messiah's 
reign,  saying,  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  com 
ing  ?  for  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things 
continue  as  they  were  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world.  The  course  of  nature  moves  on  as  usual ; 
the  sun  rises  and  sets,  the  stars  circle  in  the  heav 
ens,  spring,  summer,  and  autumn  come  and  go, 
by  an  unvarying  law.  Divine  advents  are  no 
more.  Miracles  are  a  legend  of  the  darker  ages. 
The  season  of  faith  in  the  supernatural  is  passed. 
A  religion  other  than  instinct,  or  nature,  is  but 
the  dream  of  sick-brained  enthusiasm.  Prayer  is 
folly  and  presumption.  The  creation  of  the 
world  as  a  work  of  time,  the  first  Eden,  the  fall 
of  man,  the  flood,  the  call  of  Abraham,  the  exode 
from  Egypt,  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  of  fire 
by  night,  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  giving 
of  the  law  from  Sinai,  divine  revelations  through 
Moses  and  Isaiah,  inspiration,  miracles,  and  won 
ders,  are  simple  myths,  or  traditionary  legends, 

(200) 


THE    ADVENT.  201 

in  which  a  few  grains  of  truth  are  mingled  and 
preserved  in  a  huge  mass  of  error.  But  the  time 
for  believing  such  things  is  gone  by.  This  is  the 
eighth  century  from  the  foundation  of  Rome. 
The  age  is  too  enlightened  to  be  caught  by  fic 
tions.  And  as  for  a  new  and  special  revelation, 
of  a  grander  and  purer  character  than  has  ever 
been  dreamed  of  by  saint  or  sage,  and  above  all, 
the  advent  from  the  spirit  world  of  a  divine  mes 
senger,  whose  kingdom  is  to  be  coeval  with  time, 
and  spread  over  the  globe,  reason  must  pronounce 
it  the  most  absurd  chimera. 

Yef  nature  moved  on  as  usual ;  and  no  sign  or 
promise  of  the  new  order  of  things  so  long  ex 
pected,  and  so  much  needed,  was  visible  in  the 
earth  or  sky.  Mankind  were  eating  and  drinking, 
sinning  and  suffering,  as  usual.  Millions  were 
rushing  after  vanity,  and  the  weary  nations  were 
sinking  into  deeper  and  still  deeper  night. 

But  as  nature  is  often  silent,  intensely  silent, 
before  the  bursting  forth  of  some  grand  or  fearful 
change,  which  is  to  affect,  for  weal  or  for  woe,  the 
destiny  of  thousands,  and  as  such  change  is  of 
ten  like  the  sudden  protrusion  of  a  hand  from  the 
dark,  or  a  flash  of  lightning  at  midnight,  so  now, 
the  fulness  of  the  times  being  come,  Jesus  was 
bom  into  the  world  —  in  a  humble  town,  in  the 
hush  of  night  — among  strangers  who  cared  noth 
ing  for  the  event  —  in  a  condition  of  lowliness 


202  CIIRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

and  poverty  peculiarly  striking  —  and  without 
any  general  and  imposing  demonstrations.  And 
why  ?  Simply  because  he  was  to  be  a^spiritual 
Teacher,  a  divine  Redeemer,  whose  "  still  small 
voice"  of  love  and  mercy  was  gently  but  irresist 
ibly  to  penetrate  the  human  heart,  and  transform 
it  into  the  divine  image. 

Natural,  for  it  was  only  a  birth  ;  supernatural, 
for  it  was  the  birth  of  the  Divine  among  men. 
Natural,  for  he  seemed  to  glide  into  the  race,  as 
a  new  star  glides  into  the  heavens  ;  supernatural, 
for  a  higher  form  of  gravitation  in  the  spiritual 
sphere  began  to  act  upon  society,  fitted  to  change 
and  modify  it  forever.  Natural,  for  no  laws  were 
counteracted  or  suspended ;  supernatural,  for  a 
deeper  and  more  comprehensive  law  controlled 
them  all.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said,  that  in  the 
unity  of  a  higher  and  more  comprehensive  law, 
the  natural  and  supernatural  are  one  —  a  fact  of 
which  the  incarnation  is  a  proof  and  illustration. 

Little  is  recorded  of  this  unostentatious  but 
august  event.  It  was  proclaimed,  as  has  been 
often  said,  not  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  or  the 
purlieus  of  the  temple,  but  in  the  quiet  scenes  of 
the  country  ;  not  to  the  Sanhedrim  of  the  Jewish 
nation,  nor  to  the  priesthood  in  solemn  conclave, 
but  to  a  few  pious  shepherds,  as  they  watched 
their  flocks  by  night  on  the  plains  of  Bethlehem. 

In  all  this  we  discern  much  of  divine  wisdom. 


THE    ADVENT.  203 

God,  in  creating  and  blessing,  is  not  so  much  in 
the  "  whirlwind  and  the  storm,"  as  in  "  the  still 
small  voice."  His  mightiest  changes  are  achieved 
by  invisible,  and  apparently  trivial  means.  He 
works  not  at  the  surface,  but  at  the  centre  ;  not 
by  mechanism,  but  by  spirit.  He  comes  rather 
in  the  solitude  and  silence  of  night,  like  the  dew 
beneath  the  stars,  than  in  the  glare  and  tumult 
of  day.  In  this  respect  he  reverses  all  the  ex 
pectations  of  man.  "  Without  observation,"  like 
his  own  reign  of  purity  and  love,  he  accomplishes 
the  designs  of  his  grace.  Not  with  the  might  of 
kings,  or  the  tread  of  armies,  but  with  the  quiet 
majesty,  the  still,  but  resistless  force  of  supreme 
and  all-pervading  will.  He  taketh  "the  weak 
things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  mighty,  and 
things  that  are  not  to  bring  to  nought  things  that 
are,  that  no  flesh  may  glory  in  his  presence." 
Evermore  he  magnifies  purity  and  love  over  might 
and  display. 

Moreover,  the  incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ  was  a 
veiling  rather  than  a  revealing  of  absolute  power. 
Indeed,  every  embodiment  or  manifestation  of 
God  must  possess  this  character.  Properly  speak 
ing,  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain  him  ; 
the  entire  visible  creation,  in  magnitude,  bears  no 
conceivable  relation  to  his  infinity.  u  In  all,"  he 
is  yet  "  above  all,"  transcendent  and  ineffable. 
Further,  it  was  love,  rather  than  absolute  or  phys- 


204  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

ical  might,  which  assumed  the  human  form.*  By 
a  new  and  peculiar  manifestation,  "  grace  and 
truth  "  were  to  be  discovered  as  the  greatest  pow 
ers  in  the  universe.  Enthroned  by  the  death  of 
the  Son  of  God,  they  were  to  be  proved  resist 
less  and  eternal.  It  was  meet,  therefore,  that  in 
lowliness  and  poverty  the  birth  of  Christ  should 
correspond  with  his  death,  the  beginning  with 
the  end  of  his  earthly  career. 

Indeed,  we  cannot  judge  correctly  of  the  dig 
nity  or  magnitude  of  any  event,  and  especially 
of  the  glory  of  any  divine  manifestation,  by  its 
external  aspects,  or  its  immediate  effects  and 
accompaniments.  Its  spiritual  relations  and 
future  results  are  the  measure  of  its  importance. 
If  it  link  itself  with  the  affections  and  destinies 
of  unborn  generations,  turn  the  whole  tide  of 
human  affairs,  and  pass  on  in  ever-deepening  and 
widening  currents  of  influence,  it  proves  itself 
worthy  of  the  infinite  mind.  Men,  it  is  true, 
from  the  narrowness  and  measreness  of  their 

o 

views,  are  more  powerfully  affected  by  brilliant 
and  imposing  demonstrations;  it  would  seem 
natural  to  them,  when  the  Divinity  comes  visibly 
to  earth,  that  the  heavens  should  bow,  and  the 
earth  tremble  to  its  centre.  But  how  different 


*  We  use  the  term  absolute  or  physical  here  as  equivalent  to  what 
is  sometimes  called  natural)  in  distinction  from  moral,  though  both 
terms  are  imperfect  and  inadequate. 


THE    ADVENT.  205 


the   reality,    and,   when    duly   considered,   how 
much  more  affecting  and   beautiful ! 

"  Thou  wast  born  of  woman  ;  thou  didst  come, 
O  Holiest,  to  this  world  of  sin  and  gloom, 
Not  in  thy  dread,  omnipotent  array  ; 
And  not  by  thunder  strewed 
Was  thy  tempestuous  road, 
Nor  indignation  burned  before  thee  on  thy  way. 
But  thee  a  soft  and  naked  child, 
Thy  mother  undefiled, 
In  the  rude  manger  laid  to  rest, 
From  off  her  virgin  breast. 

"  The  heavens  were  not  commanded  to  prepare 
A  gorgeous  canopy  of  golden  air  ; 
Nor  stooped  their  lamps  the  enthroned  fires  on  high. 

A  single,  silent  star 

Came  wandering  from  afar, 

Gliding  unchecked  and  calm  along  the  liquid  sky  ; 
The  eastern  sages  leading  on 
As  at  a  kingly  throne, 
To  lay  their  odors  sweet 
Before  thy  infant  feet."  * 

*  Milman's  Fall  of  Jerusalem.  The  intelligent  reader  will 
here  call  to  mind  the  words  of  Milton,  in  the  grandest  of  lyric 
strains  :  — 

"  But  peaceful  was  the  night, 
Wherein  the  Prince  of  Light 

His  reign  of  peace  upon  the  earth  began ; 
The  winds,  with  wonder  whist, 
Smoothly  the  waters  kissed, 

Whispering  new  joys  to  the  mild  ocean  ; 
Who  now  hath  quite  forgot  to  rave, 
While  birds  of  calm  sit  brooding  on  the  charmed  wave. 

The  stars  with  deep  amaze,"  &c. 

Milman  has  given,  in  beautiful  form,  the  general  aspect  of  the  case  ; 
but  we  are  not  to  forget  what,  perhaps,  ho  has  overlooked,  that 

18 


206  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

There  was  a  profound  spiritual  significance  in 
the  fact  that  Jesus  should  be  "  born  of  a  virgin," 
for  then  would  it  be  seen  that  he  was  "  the  Holy 
One  of  God."  The  unstained  innocence  of  the 
mother,  her  serene  beauty  and  gentleness  of 
character,  and  the  entire  separation  of  Christ,  by 
means  of  his  supernatural  birth,  from  the  corrupt 
ed  mass  of  humanity,  would  form  a  peculiar 
attraction  for  all  pure  minds.  Then,  also,  would 
it  be  understood  by  the  world  that  he  u  came 
forth  from  God,"  the  immaculate  incarnation  of 
righteousness  and  love.  It  was  meet,  also,  that 
the  advent  of  the  Redeemer  should  be  a  sacred 
mystery,  around  which  the  affections  of  his  fol 
lowers  should  linger  with  delight  and  awe.  This 
feeling,  indeed,  has  been  exaggerated  and  vitiated 
both  by  the  Greek  and  Roman  churches ;  but  it 
is  a  natural  feeling,  and  not  only  so,  but  pro 
ductive"  of  the  best  results. 

For  how  could  Christ  corne  into  the  world  as 
one  of  the  race,  except  by  a  birth  ?  and  how 
could  he  be  recognized  as  the  Divine,  except  by 
an  immaculate  birth?  "That  holy  thing  that 
shall  be  born  of  thee  shall  be  called  the  Son  of 
God."  On  this  account,  there  is  something 
inexpressibly  touching  in  the  thought  expressed 

«'  suddenly  there  was  with  the  angel  a  multitude,"  perhaps  more 
than  "  a  single  choir"  of  the  heavenly  host,  praising  God  and  saying, 
"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  on  earth  peace  and  good  will  to  men." 


THE    ADVENT.  207 

by  Wordsworth,  that  in  the  virgin  mother  were 
"blended  and  reconciled"  those  singular  but 
beautiful  contrasts  — 

"  Of  mother's  love  and  maiden  purity, 
Of  high  and  low,  celestial  with  terrene."  * 

Rude  minds  have  wondered  that  "the  Highest" 
was  born  of  woman,  especially  that  the  Godhead 
was  enshrined  in  the  person  of  a  child.  But  more 
thoughtful  and  spiritual  minds  have  discerned,  in 
this  very  thing,  a  meaning  and  design  which 
awaken  their  profoundest  awe.  They  cannot 
allow  that  mechanical  greatness,  or  material  ex 
pansion,  though  of  suns  and  systems  innumer 
able,  have  aught  in  them  akin  to  the  nature  of 
God,  or  that  adventitious  circumstances,  however 
grand  and  imposing,  can  add  any  thing  to  his 
infinite  excellence!  Indeed,  they  look  beyond 
all  the  depths  of  the  starry  heavens,  and  all  the 
immensities  of  the  visible  creation,  to  find  his 
indivisible  essence,  and  his  boundless  majesty. 
Not  physical  grandeur,  or  mechanic  force,  but 
spirituality,  purity,  love,  infinite  and  unutterable, 


*  The  nations  could  never  imagine  how  the  Divine  should  come 
into  the  world,  and  live  itself  into  oiir  historic  existence,  except  by 
an  incarnation,  and  that  too  from  a  pure  virgin.  Budh,  Hercules, 
Zoroaster,  Confucius,  and  others,  considered  divine  men,  were  sup 
posed  to  have  virgin  mothers,  —  a  fiction  obvious  enough,  but  a 
natural  one,  so  natural  that  the  fact,  or  reality,  when  it  docs  come, 
corresponds  to  it. 


208  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

constitute  their  idea  of  his  glory.  Hence  they 
can  adore  the  indwelling  and  manifestation  of 
that  glory,  as  well  in  the  person  of  "  the  holy 
Child,"  as  in  all  the  magnificence  of  the  universe ! 
God  is  a  Spirit!  God  is  love!  And  since  man, 
in  his  unstained  innocence,  was  made  in  the 
image  of  God,  no  fitter  temple  of  the  Deity  can 
be  found  than  that  of  a  sinless  Messiah. 

The  true  tabernacle  of  God  is  not  so  much 
nature  as  man ;  not  indeed  man  fallen,  but  man 
redeemed,  or  rather  man  the  Redeemer.  "  Man," 
says  the  celebrated  Jean  Paul  Kichter,  in  one  of 
his  transcendent  nights,  where  he  touches  on  the 
very  borders  of  the  infinite,  "  man  is  the  Isis-veil 
of  the  Divinity."  "  Ye  are  the  temple  of  the  liv 
ing  God,"  is  the  clearer,  more  appropriate  lan 
guage  of  St.  Paul.  So  that  we  rnay  well  affirm 
that  God  is  closer  to  man  than  most  of  us 
imagine. 

It  will  be  admitted,  we  think,  by  all,  that  man 
is  greater  than  the  whole  material  or  visible  uni 
verse  ;  and  yet  God  is  in  the  latter,  by  a  special 
presence  and  manifestation.  Here  we  behold  his 
glory.  How  much  more  intimately  present  must 
God  be  in  man,  who  is  matter  and  spirit  at  once, 
and  thus  the  fittest  vehicle  for  the  divine  mani 
festation.  "All  religion,"  according  to  an  erratic 
but  vigorous  thinker,  "  stands  upon  this ;  not 
paganism  only,  but  far  higher  and  truer  religions, 


THE    ADVENT.  209 

all  religions  hitherto  known."  Hence  he  says, 
"  Hero-worship,  heartfelt,  burning,  boundless,  for 
a  noblest,  godlike  form  of  Man,  is  it  not  the  germ 
of  Christianity  itself?"  To  which  he  adds, 
"  The  greatest  of  all  heroes  is  one  whom  I  do 
not  name  here."  ' 

This  testimony  is  important ;  it  is  an  echo  of 
the  deepest  truth.  The  apparent  pantheism 
upon  which  it  is  founded,  of  course,  we  regret ; 
but  pantheism,  in  its  better  sense,  that  is,  the 
idea  of  God  in  all  things,  as  their  Creator  and 
Lord,  and  especially  in  man,  as  his  highest  and 
holiest  temple,  we  maintain,  on  the  plainest 
scriptural  authority.  God  is  "all  and  in  all;" 
not,  however,  as  a  simple,  all-comprehending 
force,  or  law,  fyut  as  a  personal  agent,  u  in  whom 
are  all  things,  and  by  whom  are  all  things."  So 
that  the  great  fact  of  Christianity,  the  incarnation 
of  God  in  the  man  Jesus  Christ,  is  a  truth  the 
most  rational  and  conceivable.  Even  those  who 
doubt  historical  Christianity — Hegel,  Strauss, 
Carlyle,  Parker  —  confess  the  fitness  of  Christ, 
simply  as  a  form,  for  the  indwelling  and  mani 
festation  of  the  Deity.  Indeed,  an  ideal  or  per 
fect  man,  from  Plato  downwards,  has  been  the 
fascination  of  the  world,  the  desire  of  all  nations; 
especially  a  godlike  man,  a  son  of  God,  a  deliv 
erer,  in  whom  should  be  found  blended  all  per- 

*  Hero- Worship,  p.  13. 

18* 


210  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

fection  with  all  gentleness  and  love ;  nay,  more, 
a  divine  man,  a  true  Prometheus  or  Apollo,  in 
whose  hands  nature  and  his  fellows  should  be 
pliant  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter,  has  been 
the  longing  of  poetry  and  religion,  even  among 
the  heathen.  This,  in  a  still  higher  form,  was 
the  polar  star  of  the  Jewish  mind.  Moses  and 
Isaiah,  as  well  as  the  Talmudists,  alike  magnify 
this  mightier  Prophet — this  super-angelic  Logos, 
or  Revealer —  this  divine  Metraton,  or  Reconciler 
of  God  and  man.  It  seems  to  us,  indeed,  that 
every  heart,  beating  true  to  nature  and  its  higher 
instincts,  must  long  for  it.  Dissatisfied  with  all 
common  men ;  dissatisfied  with  all  heroes,  even 
with  the  kingly  spirits  of  history,  —  for  in  beauty, 
worth,  and  power  we  can  always  conceive  some 
thing  beyond  them  ; — nay,  more,  dissatisfied  with 
angels,  whether  the  angels  of  the  Bible,  of  Dante, 
or  of  Milton,  august  and  lovely  as  they  seem,  we 
are  still  yearning  for  the  perfection  of  man  ;  that 
is,  man  sinless,  infinite,  immortal.  It  seems 
an  anomaly,  an  impossibility,  a  contradiction  in 
terms ;  but  we  are  made  for  it,  as  we  are  made 
for  God  and  glory. 

Some  of  those  who  reject  the  supernatural 
element  in  the  Bible,  and  look  upon  the  gospel 
as  a  figment  or  myth  of  a  darker  age,  sometimes 
betray  the  instinct  to  which  we  refer;  and,  while 
rejecting  a  divine  Redeemer,  describe  just  such 


THE    ADVENT.  211 

a  being  as  "the  want  "'of  the  world.  Emerson, 
for  example,  who,  in  his  transcendental  gyrations, 
has  long  ago  left  Christianity  behind  him,  thus 
describes  what  he  calls  "  the  old  want :  "  "  There 
is  no  man  ;  there  hath  never  been.  The  intellect 
still  asks  that  a  man  may  be  born.  The  flame  of 
life  flickers  feebly  in  human  breasts.  We  demand 
of  men  a  richness  and  universality  we  do  not  find. 
Great  men  do  not  content  us.  It  is  their  solitude, 
not  their  force,  that  makes  them  conspicuous. 
There  is  somewhat  indigent  and  tedious  about 
them.  They  are  poorly  tied  to  one  thought.  If 
they  are  prophets,  they  are  egotists  ;  if  polite  and 
various,  they  are  shallow.  How  tardily  men  ar 
rive  at  any  result?  .  .  .  Thus  a  man  lasts 
but  a  very  little  while,  for  his  monomania  "  [that 
he  has  the  secret  of  the  universe]  "  lasts  but  a 
very  little  while.  It  is  so  with  every  book  and 
person  ;  and  yet  —  and  yet  —  we  do  not  take  up 
a  new  book,  or  meet  a  new  man,  without  a  pulse- 
beat  of  expectation.  And  this  invincible  hope  of 
a  more  adequate  interpreter,  is  the  sure  prediction 
of  his  advent.  .... 

"  We  no  longer  hold  it  [nature]  by  the  hand ; 
we  have  lost  our  miraculous  power ;  our  arm  is 
no  more  strong  as  the  frost,  nor  our  will  equivalent 
to  gravity  and  the  elective  attractions."  ' 

*  The  Method  of  Nature.     Addresses  and  Lectures,  pp.  187-189. 


212  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

What  does  this  imaginative,  half  pagan  poet 
or  philosopher  want?  Turning  away  from  Him 
whom  he  acknowledges,  in  one  place,  as  "  the 
true,  prophet  of  nature,"  who,  with  "  open  vision," 
looked  upon  "its  secret,"  and  called  himself  "di 
vine,"  he  yet  longs  for  a  perfect  godlike  man,  un 
der  whose  hands  nature  should  be  plastic  as  wax; 
whose  movements  should  be  miracles ;  whose 
powers  should  equal  the  elective  and  attractive 
forces ;  whose  great  heart,  of  such  "  richness  and 
universality,"  should  comprehend  and  control  all 
other  hearts. 

Such  a  man  we  find  in  Jesus  Christ,  whose 
advent  into  the  world,  as  a  sinless  child,  we  have 
briefly  described.  Beyond  him  nothing  can  be 
conceived,  nothing  can  be  desired. 

Sensual  and  mechanical  minds  may  doubt 
here  ;  but  pure  and  lofty  spirits,  who  have  caught 
only  Platonic  fire,  well  know  what  we  mean. 

The  truth  is,  man  is  from  God,  as  to  his  origin, 
and  to  God  as  to  his  end.  We  are  apt  to  date 
him  from  his  fall,  and  think  of  him  only  as  sev 
ered  from  God  and  lost  to  perfection  ;  but  he 
dates  from  an  era  anterior  to  the  fall.  God  is 
the  fount  of  our  being ;  so  that  in  a  close  and 
peculiar  sense,  we  are  the  divine  offspring. 
^Eschylus,  the  sublimest  of  the  heathen  poets, 
had  slight  glimpses  of  this  truth.  So  had 
Euripides  and  others.  Plato  grasped  it  thor- 


THE    ADVENT.  213 

oughly,  though  exaggerating  its  import,  and 
thence  inferring,  though  by  no  means  unnatu 
rally,  the  preexistence  of  souls.  He  shows,  in 
language  of  surpassing  beauty,  that  they  came 
from  God,  and,  though  fallen  into  earthliness  and 
sin,  yet  becoming  "winged,"  that  is,  as  we  un 
derstand  him,  renouncing  all  sensual  delight,  and 
longing  for  the  pure  and  perfect,  they  rise  again 
into  the  bosom  of  God.  He  puts  this  refined 
speculation  into  the  mouth  of  Socrates,  conversing 
with  a  youthful  friend,  under  the  shadow  of  an 
agnus  castus,  beyond  the  city  walls  ;  whence  we 
infer  that  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  idea  was 
cherished  by  Socrates  himself.* 

Indeed,  the  idea  of  a  divine  paternity  has  been 
recognized,  with  more  or  less  distinctness,  by  all 
lofty  minds  ;  nay,  has  been  descried  as  from  afar 
by  the  common  heart  of  humanity.  It  runs 
through  the  whole  Bible,  and  finds  one  of  its 
most  striking  expositions  in  the  address  of  St. 
Paul  before  the  Athenian  Areopagus.  "  God, 
that  made  the  world,  and  all  things  therein,  see 
ing  that  he  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  dwelleth 
not  in  temples  made  with  hands,  neither  is  wor 
shipped  with  men's  hands,  as  though  he  needed 
any  thing;  seeing  he  giveth  to  all  life,  and  breath, 
and  all  things,  arid* hath  made  of  one  blood 
[nature?]  all  nations  of  men,  for  to  dwell  on  all 

*  rhccdrus,  2-3. 


214  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

the  face  of  the  earth,  and  hath  determined  the 
times  before  appointed,  and  the  bounds  of  their 
habitation,  that  they  should  seek  the  Lord,  if 
haply  they  might  feel  after  him,  and  find  him, 
though  he  be  not  far  from  every  one  of  us ;  for 
in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being ; 
as  certain  also  of  your  own  poets  have  said, 
For  we  are  also  his  offspring" 

Thus,  then,  from  his  origin,  man  bears  the 
impress  of  Divinity.  The  image,  indeed,  like 
some  beautiful  statue,  fallen  into  barbarous 
hands,  may  be  defaced,  but  it  is  extant  in  all. 
For  as  God  is  a  Spirit,  so  man,  in  his  higher 
nature,  is  a  spirit  also ;  as  God  thinks  and  wills, 
so  man  thinks  and  wills  ;  as  God  is  the  con 
scious,  the  holy,  and  ever  blessed,  so  man  is  con 
scious,  responsible,  joyful,  and,  if  "  born  from 
above,"  holy  and  blessed  forevermore.  In  fine, 
as  God  lives,  and  loves,  and  acts,  so  man  lives, 
and  loves,  and  acts,  as  his  image  or  echo  on  earth. 
Man  dwells  in  God  as  the  root  of  his  being  and 
well-  being.  All  the  streams  come  from  one 
fountain,  all  are  filled  with  the  same  life.  Take 
away  God,  and  all  the  channels  of  human  exist 
ence  are  dry  and  desolate.  Hence,  every  where 
man  "feels  after  God,"  longs,  sometimes  indeed 
blindly  and  madly,  but  still  longs  for  the  perfect, 
the  boundless,  and  eternal.  When  pure  and  peace 
ful,  filled  with  love  and  joy,  he  stands  the  fairest 


THE    ADVENT.  215 

image  of  the  Uncreated  Beauty,  like  the  great 
ocean  mirroring,  in  some  clear  and  placid  hour, 
the  everlasting  heavens. 

If  God,  then,  should  ever  come  to  man,  in 
other  words,  reveal  himself  to  us  in  closer  con 
tact,  and  with  a  deeper  and  more  tender  signifi 
cance  than  in  all  suns  and  stars,  he  would  come 
in  some  godlike  form  of  man,  in  some  immacu 
late,  yet  earth-born  Messiah,  through  whose  eyes 
of  love  he  might  look  upon  us  in  pity,  through 
whose  voice  of  strange  power  and  pathos  he 
might  speak  to  us,  through  whose  unfathomable 
heart  he  might  love  us,  and  through  whose  in 
scrutable  sufferings  for  sin  he  might  expiate  our 
guilt,  and  reconcile  us  to  himself. 

Moreover,  man  had  run  down  to  the  lowest 
point,  as  we  have  seen,  previous  to  the  Christian 
Epiphany.  The  fall  had  produced  its  bitter 
fruits.  Superstition  and  atheism  had  ripened, 
and  all  base  passions,  all  personal  and  na 
tional  lust  and  imbecility,  were  the  result.  A 
new  beginning,  a  new  and  stronger  life,  was 
needed.  Some  divine  power  must  be  given : 
but  how  given,  except  in  a  living  form,  such  as 
men  could  understand  and  feel,  and  to  which,  in 
spiritual  bonds,  they  might  be  personally  linked? 

The  help  must  come  from  above,  that  is  clear ; 
and  yet  seem  to  spring  from  the  bosom  of  hu 
manity  :  in  other  words,  it  must  be  human  and 


216  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

divine,  in  order  to  inspire  sympathy,  confidence, 
and  love,  and  thus  impart  a  new  and  everlasting 
life  to  the  race. 

That  is  to  say,  stating  the  matter  in  such 
language  as  we  possess,  the  divine  Redeemer 
must  be  born  into  the  world,  born  of  a  pure 
virgin,  a  holy,  sainted  spirit,  born  as  the  Son  of 
God,  grow  up  by  natural  steps,  develop  him 
self  by  a  process  akin  to  the  workings  of  nature, 
or  the  manifestation  of  God,  in  the  advancing 
spring,  or  the  growing  corn,  till,  matured  and  per 
fected,  he  should  once  more  pass,  by  a  common 
path,  that  is,  death  or  dissolution,  which  is  only 
final  change  and  transition,  into  the  invisible  and 
immortal  state. 

Such  an  incarnation  is  by  no  means  an  unnatu 
ral  or  unfamiliar  idea  among  men.  Nay,  it  is 
one  of  the  most  natural  and  spontaneous.  The 
Oriental  world,  with  its  grand,  though  bewilder 
ing  conceptions,  teems  with  incarnations,  —  exag 
gerations  indeed,  nay,  caricatures, —  but  still  hints, 
and,  so  to  speak,  shadows  of  the  possible  reality. 
The  Grecian  mind,  in  lower  forms,  conceived 
the  divine,  as  born  amid  the  hills  and  vales. 
Mythical,  we  grant,  but  not  unnatural,  not  even 
irrational,  except  in  the  meagreness  of  the  form, 
and,  above  all,  in  the  crude  superstition  and  de 
basing  sensuality  with  which  it  was  invested. 
The  immeasurable  superiority  of  the  Christian 


THE    ADVENT.  217 

.< 

incarnation  is  seen  at  a  glance  ;  for  the  former- 
at  best,  were  mythical  incarnations  of  beauty 
and  power,  sometimes  of  passion,  carnal  and 
evanescent ;  the  latter  is  a  real  incarnation,  a  di 
vine  embodiment  of  purity  and  love.  In  Pro 
metheus  we  see  strength  of  will,  in  Apollo 
beauty  and  wisdom ;  but  in  Christ  we  see  "  all 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead."  The  former  were 
symbols  and  myths,  the  latter  is  "  God  manifest 
in  the  flesh." 

But  what  do  we  mean  by  an  incarnation  ? 
Not  the  limitation,  or  humanization,  (forgive  the 
word,)  of  an  infinite  Essence,  for  that  is  impos 
sible  ;  but  the  special  presence,  energy,  or  mani 
festation  of  that  Essence,  itself  boundless  and  un 
utterable,  in  an  exterior  human  form.  It  is  thus 
that  God  reveals  himself  in  all  outward  things, 
though  here  in  Christ,  by  a  special  impersona 
tion.  Each  spring,  however, is  but  a  "renewing," 
by  means  of  a  spiritual  presence  beneath  the 
surface,  "  of  the  face  of  the  earth."  The  poor 
Indian  sees  the  Great  Spirit  in  the  thunder 
cloud ;  we  ourselves  devoutly  acknowledge  him 
as  the  light  and  life  of  all  we  see.  The  heavens 
and  earth  are.  his  garment,  according  to  the 
lyric  poetry  of  the  Hebrews,  the  outer  costume 
in  which  he  robes  himself.*  The  doctrine  of 
a  presence  in  nature,  belongs  not  merely  to  the- 

*  Psalm  civ. 

19 


218  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

ology,  but  to  science.  And  what  is  that  idea 
of  presence  but  the  prelude,  or  intimation  of  a 
more  specific  advent,  or  presence  among  men  ? 
Why  should  not  the  Deity  become  visible  before 
our  eyes  ?  Why  should  not  the  infinite  Spirit, 
as  well  as  the  finite  spirit,  be  capable  of  an  em 
bodiment?  Certainly,  with  all  our  science  and 
mechanism,  our  outward  notions  and  carnal 
views,  we  cannot  be  averse  to  this ;  for  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  spiritual  comes  into  this  world 
only  as  a  birth  —  the  soul  is  born  into  the  joys 
and  sufferings  of  this  material  sphere,  of  this 
carnal  and  mortal  life.  Spirit  is  ever  superior  to 
matter —  comes  to  it,  not  from  it.  It  is  a  cause, 
not  an  effect;  a  power  independent  and  immor 
tal  ;  an  essential  and  vital  force,  created,  indeed, 
but  still  essential  and  vital,  which  wills  and  acts, 
in  and  through  the  material  organization.  The 
sensual  philosophers  teach  that  it  is  not  primary, 
but  secondary,  a  mere  product  of  mechanism, 
or  organization,  evolved,  as  some  of  them  say, 
from  the  action  of  the  body,  like  the  electric  or 
magnetic  forces  from  a  common  battery,  and  so 
passes  away  with  the  organism  which  gave  it 
birth.  But  this  is  to  confound  cause  and  effect 
and  not  only  so,  but  it  is  to  confound  cause  and 
occasion  ;  for  even  the  electrical  or  magnetic 
machine  may  simply  supply  the  occasion  or  me 
dium  through  which  acts  that  all  but  spiritual 


THE    ADVENT.  219 

force  which  we  call  electricity  or  magnetism. 
But  the  soul  is  a  productive  cause  —  a  dweller  in 
the  body,  controlling  that  body,  -and  using  it  for 
its  purposes,  by  the  force  of  its  original  will. 
Besides,  we  are  plainly  taught  in  the  word  of  God, 
that  the  spirit  was  imparted  to  the  bodily  organ 
ization,  when  formed  and  fitted  for  its  dwelling- 
place,  and  that  the  spirit  through  that  body 
communicates  with  the  external  world  of  forms. 
Spirit,  then,  is  superior,  not  inferior  or  posterior 
to  the  body ;  and  thence  is  a  proper  incarnation* 
Every  man  coming  into  the  world,  by  birth, 
comes  into  it  just  as  Jesus  did ;  and  the  only 
difference  between  them  is,  that  the  one  comes 
as  a  spirit  finite  and  feeble,  because  created  and 
dependent,  the  other  as  a  spirit  infinite  and  im 
mortal,  because  uncreated  and  divine.  Besides, 
that  spirit  of  ours,  made  visible  in  human  form, 
though  dependent  and  limited,  is  vastly  more 
than  the  body  ;  it  is,  so  to  speak,  of  grander 
dimensions,  of  more  stupendous  powers.  And 
yet,  there  it  gleams  through  its  narrow  dwelling, 
there  it  loves  and  acts,  grows  and  expands  in  its 

*  If  any  one  prefers  to  say  that  the  body  is  first  created,  or  pro 
duced,  and  that  then  the  soul  is  given  to  it  by  a  divine  act,  be  it  so  ; 
the  force  of  the  argument  remains  the  same.  But  the  vital  force 
and  interior  spirit  one  would  think  necessary  to  the  very  possibility 
of  organization  and  growth.  Our  own  opinion  is,  that  though  cre 
ated  by  God,  spirit  is  first,  and  that  it  is  necessary  to  human  exist 
ence. 


220  CHRIST    IX    IIISTOHY. 

fleshly  tabernacle,  from  which,  by  and  by,  sub 
limated  and  glorified  by  the  change  which  men 
call  death,  it  will  pass,  once  more,  into  the  spirit 
ual  and  immortal  state. 

Why,  then,  should  it  be  thought  a  thing  in 
credible  that  the  Divinity  should  become  incar 
nate,  that  the  eternal  Spirit  should  take  up 
his  dwelling,  and  perform  his  high  work  for 
humanity,  in  the  limited,  but  fitting  form  of 
the  man  Jesus  Christ?  Nay,  is  not  this  the 
most  natural,  the  most  credible  thing  in  the 
universe?  What  were  a  body  without  a  soul? 
and  what  were  Christ  without  the  indwell 
ing  God?  What,  on  the  other  hand,  were  the 
soul  to  us  without  the  body ;  and  what  to  us 
even  the  invisible  God,  without  the  manifesta 
tion  of  himself  in  the  man  Jesus  Christ  ?  We 
might  have  known  him  dimly  and  distantly,  as 
the  heathen  know  him,  but  never  as  we  now 
know  him,  the  Father,  the  Friend,  the  Redeem 
er  of  us  all. 

In  the  estimation  of  the  sceptic  and  the  world 
ling,  the  advent  of  Christ  may  seem  a  small 
event ;  nay,  more,  a  thing  impossible  and  incred 
ible.  "Yet  it  was  the  turning-point  of  the  world's 
history,"  as  Schelling,  the  greatest  of  the  modern 
German  philosophers,  cheerfully  avows.  Then 
the  "  Day-star"  from  on  high  visited  us.  Then 
the  "  Sun  of  righteousness  arose  with  healing  in 


THE   ADVENT.  221 

his  wings."  Then  sprang  to  life  a  form  of  civil 
ization,  which  was  to  penetrate  the  nations  with 
an  invisible  but  resistless  force,  and  which,  at 
the  present  time,  as  Jouffroy,  one  of  the  clearest 
and  profoundest  thinkers  of  the  French  eclectic 
school,  has  demonstrated,  is  the  only  thing  ac 
tive  and  diffusive  in  society,  constituting,  in  fact, 
what  Vinet  terms  the  gravitation  of  the  moral 
world.* 

Thus  the  birth  of  Christ,  insignificant  in  its 
seeming,  was  inexpressibly  great  in  its  reality. 
Apparently  the  advent  of  a  simple  child,  it  was 
the  incarnation  of  the  Godhead.  A  mere  inci 
dent,  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the  earth,  which 
disturbed  neither  the  course  of  nature  nor  the 
course  of  society,  it  was  the  origin  of  untold  rev 
olutions,  the  beginning  of  a  new  civilization  and 
a  new  religion,  of  a  new  world  and  a  new  heaven. 
No  wonder,  then,  that  it  was  hymned  by  angels, 
as  was  the  creation  of  the  world  at  first,  when 
the  morning  stars  sung  together,  and  all  the 
sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy.  Not  only  on  the 
plains  of  Bethlehem  resounded  the  glad  acclaim, 
but  in  the  realms  of  glory.  For  as  soon  as  the 
news  was  announced  to  the  shepherds,  "  suddenly 
there  was  with  the  angel  a  multitude  of  the 
heavenly  host,  praising  God,  and  saying,  Glory 

*  See  Jouffroy's  Melanges  Philosophiques  ;  Vinct's  Essais  do 
Philosophie  Morak,  p.  189, 

19* 


222  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

to  God  in  the  highest,  on  earth  peace  and  good 
will  to  men-." 

Much  of  this  has  been  styled  a  myth  or  legen 
dary  fiction  by  the  sceptics  of  continental  Europe, 
and  their  imitators  in  this  country ;  after  all,  the 
thing,  the  reality  remains.  No  hypothesis  can 
explain  it  away.  It  is  an  effect  of  which  some 
adequate,  and  therefore  divine  cause  must  be  sup 
posed.  If  any  fact  in  history  is  well  established, 
it  is  that  of  the  extraordinary  birth  of  Christ, 
and  the  wonderful  change  thereby  wrought  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  But  if  the  birth  of 
Christ  must  be  conceded,  as  the  first  step,  in  the 
series  of  stupendous  facts  connected  with  his  mis 
sion,  then  the  mystery  of  the  incarnation,  the  song 
of  the  angels,  the  visit  of  the  Magi,  and  the  star 
in  the  east,  or  the  luminous  appearance  which 
guided  their  steps  to  the  place  of  his  nativity,  all, 
in  a  word,  connected  with  this  event,  natural, 
or  supernatural,  may  be  allowed.  The  same 
testimony  which  proves  the  one,  proves  also  the 
other.  If  the  one  is  natural  in  the  circumstances 
supposed,  so  is  the  other.  The  miracle  of 
Christ  himself,  his  very  presence  in  the  world, 
with  its  vast  influence  among  men,  so  clearly 
divine,  easily  accounts  for  all  the  rest.  The  sun 
in  the  heavens  is  not  alone  there,  cannot  be  alone 
there.  Stars  follow  in  his  train.  Planets  and 
satellites  are  his  natural  attendants.  Light  and 


THE    ADVENT.  223 

beauty  supernal  Hash  along  his  pathway.  If 
Christ,  then,  be  the  Son  of  God,  how  natural  and 
becoming  the  angelic  announcement!  how  beau 
tiful  "  that  soft  hosanna's  tone  "  from  celestial 
choirs !  how  glorious  that  refulgent  star,  leading 
on  the  believers  of  the  Orient  —  first  fruits  and 
representatives  of  the  Gentiles  —  to  Christ,  and 
standing  like  a  thing  of  life  over  the  place  where 
the  young  child  lay  !  how  dignified  and  touching 
the  homage  of  the  shepherds,  and  the  adoration 
of  the  Magi,  with  their  gifts  of  gold,  frankin 
cense,  and  myrrh ! 

Let  us  draw  nigh,  then,  and  behold  this  great 
sight,  this  transcendent  wonder,  this  true  Sheki- 
nah  of  the  Godhead.  Away  with  curious  im 
aginings  and  impotent  speculations.  The  Word 
is  made  flesh  and  dwells  among  us,  and  by  faith 
we  behold  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only- 
begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth. 
Not  by  the  vulgar  senses,  not  even  by  the  mere 
formal  intellect,  but  by  that  higher  exercise  of 
the  soul  which  discerns  the  true,  the  beautiful, 
the  good,  absolute  and  eternal,  palpitating  be 
neath  the  thin  vesture  of  external  forms  and  finite 
existences,  can  we  recognize  and  appreciate  the 
glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus.  Life  only 
can  apprehend  life.  Souls  echo  to  souls.  Love 
is  their  interpreter.  It  is  only  thus  that  God 
himself  can  be  known  to  man.  Spirit  answers 


224  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

to  spirit,  finite  to  infinite,  the  love  of  the  believer 
to  the  love  of  God. 

Hence  the  incarnation  is  a  sacred  mystery, 
to  be  known  and  cherished  in  the  secret  depths 
of  regenerate  hearts. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    DISCIPLINE. 

NATURE  is  progressive.  Principles  and  iorces 
remain,  but  organic  forms  and  living  creatures 
are  gradually  developed.*  The  powers  beneath 
the  surface  are  often  concealed  from  human  ob 
servation,  and  apparently  restrained  and  limited 
by  an  invisible  hand  ;  but  they  are  essentially,  and 
at  all  times,  the  same,  as  God  is  the  same. 
Working  on,  however,  they  give  rise  to  the  most 
diversified  appearances,  and  actually  seem  to 
gather  strength  and  volume  as  they  proceed.  The 
change  is  generally  from  the  less  to  the  greater, 
as  the  dawn  advances  to  the  perfect  day.  Thus 
the  stars  are  born,  taking  their  place  in  the  gal 
axy  of  night.  Thus  the  rivers  rise,  and  the  for 
ests  grow.  Thus  the  earth  itself  is  projected  into 
the  realms  of  space,  with  its  accumulating  freight 
of  living  beings.  Hence  in  the  Scriptures  we 
find  "  the  beginning  "  of  all  things  recognized, 

*  Of  course  we  do  not  here  indorse  "  the  Development  Theory  " 
of  the  author  of  "  The  Vestiges  of  Creation,"  i.mv  pretty  thoroughly 
exploded.  We  maintain  an  original  and  perfect  creation  of  distinct 
and  independent  species.  But  when  created,  those,  as  well  as  other 
organic  forms,  are  gradually  developed.  Growth  succeeds  creation. 

(233) 


226  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

and  as  in  the  discoveries  of  geological  science, 
so  here  we  behold  the  first  creation  of  the  great 
masses,  "chaos  and  elder  night"  succeeded  by 
the  beautiful  and  all-penetrating  day,  then  the 
deep  strata  of  the  earth's  foundations,  the  alter 
nations  of  sea  and  land,  the  green  herbage  with 
plants  and  trees,  the  old  monsters  of  the  deep  and 
of  the  wilderness,  fishes  and  birds,  in  their  order, 
then  the  higher  animals,  and  finally  man,  to  crown 
the  whole  ;  the  six  days  of  successive  change  and 
improvement,  with  the  seventh  of  completion  and 
perfection,  or,  as  some  have  it,  the  six  great  pe 
riods  and  revolutions  of  time,  figured  under  the 
symbol  of  the  common  week,  with  its  six  periods 
of  social  activity,  and  its  seventh  of  sacred  rest. 

Man  himself  appears  as  a  feeble  beginning,  first 
as  an  individual,  and  then  as  a  single  pair,  after 
which  follow  families,  communities,  states,  em 
pires,  that  mighty  and  multiform  thing  which  we 
call  mankind,  or  the  race.  In  the  individual  man, 
also,  as  now  developed,  we  seethe  same  wonder 
ful  process  ;  for  he  first  appears  as  an  embryo, 
and  then  as  a  child,  feeble  and  dependent,  with 
the  majestic  soul  within,  wrapped  up,  so  to  speak, 
in  the  tissues  of  the  flesh,  or  in  the  secret  cham 
bers  of  the  brain,  but  of  vital  and  productive  en 
ergy,  capable  of  all  growth  and  enlargement  of 
thought,  purpose,  and  will,  expanding  with  the 
,  and  finally  arriving  at  the  stature  of  a  com- 


THE    DISCIPLINE.  227 

plete  and  well-proportioned  man,  with  his  stal 
wart  limbs,  clear  eye,  energetic  hand,  and  all-com 
prehending  mind.  Strange  that  a  Newton,  with 
all  the  grandeurs  and  complications  of  scientific 
thought,  should  lie  in  that  little  child.  It  would 
seem  impossible  ;  but  there  he  is,  as  vital,  as  en 
ergetic,  as  great,  absolutely,  as  when  gazing 
through  starry  worlds  into  the  very  centre  and 
essence  of  things. 

This,  then,  is  God's  method  to  work  outwardly 
and  onwardly,  as  from  a  centre,  —  gradually 
evolving  his  beautiful  creations,  and  although  un 
changed  in  all  the  energies  and  resources  of  his 
nature,  discovering  himself  in  external  things,  by 
a  limited,  but  constantly  expanding  process.  He 
would  seem  thus  to  confine  himself,  to  bring 
down  and  compress  his  energies  in  finite  forms 
and  forces,  that  an  external  universe,  men  and 
angels,  might  come  into  existence, — who,  in 
due  time,  should  recognize  him  as  "all  and  in 
all."  We  -have  called  this  the  progress  of  na 
ture  ;  but  nature  is  nothing  separate  from  God. 
It  exists  by  him  and  for  him,  with  a  view  to  the 
outward  and  eternal  development  of  his  glory. 
Hence  Cowper  is  entirely  justified  in  represent 
ing  what  we  call  nature,  as  but  "  a  name  for  an 
effect,  whose  cause  is  God."  It  would  seem, 
then,  that  God,  in  outwardly  revealing  his  nature, 
voluntarily  subjects  himself  to  an  apparent  process 
of  limitation  and  development. 


228  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Now,  in  the  incarnation,  the  second  and  more 
perfect  outgoing  or  embodiment  of  the  Divine,  we 
should  naturally  expect  something  analogous ; 
as  first  of  all,  the  promise  and  the  preparation, 
then  the  birth  of  the  Divine  among  men,  in  the 
form  of  a  wondrous  child,  pure  as  the  opening 
day,  or  the  first  effluence  of  light  from  its  primal 
fountain,  penetrating  the  darkness  of  chaos,  and 
turning  it  into  radiant  gold ;  a  nature  infinite  and 
transcendent,  but  hiding  itself  in  this  limited  and 
lowly  shape,  which  grows  and  expands  till  the 
Godhead  shines  refulgent  through  the  whole. 
So  we  find  "  the  holy  Child  "  passing  into  the 
boy  —  the  thoughtful  and  spiritual  boy,  who, 
true  to  his  original  nature,  "  must  be  about  his 
Father's  business ;  "  then  into  the  man,  the  man 
active,  and  the  man  suffering,  through  all  the 
duties  and  exigencies  of  this  mortal  life,  through 
the  family,  the  church,  and  the  state,  through 
the  garden,  the  cross,  and  the  sepulchre,  through 
all,  indeed,  of  joy  and  sorrow,  of  obligation  and 
attainment,  which  comes  between  the  cradle 
and  the  tomb,  until,  perfected,  he  ascends,  by 
inward  force,  "far  above  all  principality  and 
power,  and  might  and  dominion."  Strange,  men 
may  say,  that  in  that  humble  stable,  in  that 
lowly  manger,  in  that  feeble  child,  though  beau 
tiful  as  a  star  in  the  gloom  of  night,  should  lie 
concealed  the  divine  Redeemer,  with  all  the 


THE    DISCIPLINE.  229 

depths  of  his  unutterable  love,  and  all  the  re 
sources  of  his  infinite  power.  But  no  more  strange 
than  true  ;  no  more  strange  than  the  dwelling 
of  a  finite  spirit,  yet  to  become  a  seraph,  with 
vast  power  and  eternal  joys,  in  a  similar  form ; 
no  more  strange  than  the  dwelling  of  the  in 
finite  Jehovah  in  the  universe  he  has  framed; 
for,  above  all,  he  is  yet  in  all.  And  so  also  the 
gradual  development  of  Christ  as  a  child,  a  boy, 
a  man,  the  lowly  life  he  led,  and  the  sharp  dis 
cipline  through  which  he  passed,  to  the  full  per 
fection  of  his  nature  and  work,  are  no  more 
strange  or  anomalous  than  the  course  of  creation, 
through  its  various  throes  and  changes,  to  the 
full  revelation  of  the  creating  God,  in  this  fair, 
harmonious  world.  Clearly  did  the  high  soul  of 
Milton  discern  the  glory  of  the  new-born  child, 
even  in  the  manger  of  Bethlehem,  as  he  sang,  in 
lofty  numbers,  that  wonderful  event,  in  which 
all  heaven  and  its  angelic  choirs  sympathized 
as  a  new  creation,  and  in  which  hell,  with  all  its 
brood  of  demons,  felt  that  its  empire  was 
gone ;  for  he  saw,  as  the  angels  saw,  the  mighty 
change  thence  to  be  wrought  not  only  in  the  per 
son  of  Christ,  but  in  the  ejitire  history  of  man. 

"  The  oracles  are  dumb  , 
No  voice  or  hideous  hum 

Runs  through  the  arched  roof,  in  words  deceiving. 
Apollo  from  his  shrine 
Can  no  more  divine, 

20 


230  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

With  hollow  shriek  the  steep  of  Delphos  leaving  ; 
No  nightly  trance,  or  breathed  spell 
Inspires  the  pale-eyed  priest  from  the  prophetic  cell. 

Peor  and  Baalim 

Forsake  their  temples  dim ; 

And  sullen  Moloch,  fled, 
Hath  left  in  shadows  dread 
His  burning  idol  all  of  blackest  hue  ; 

Nor  is  Osiris  seen 
In  Memphian  grove  or  green, 
Trampling  the  unshowered  grass  with  lowings  loud  • 


He  feels  from  Judah's  land 
The  dreaded  Infant's  hand  ; 

The  rays  of  Bethlehem  blind  his  dusky  eyne  ; 
Nor  all  the  gods  beside 
Longer  dare  abide, 

Not  Typhon  huge,  ending  in  snaky  twine. 
Our  Babe,  to  show  his  Godhead  true, 
Can  in  his  swaddling  bands  control  the  damned  crew." 


Thus,  in  the  principle  of  change  and  progress, 
the  "  Holy  Child  "  is  recognized  as  embodying 
"all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead,"  as  much  at  his 
birth  as  when  enthroned  in  the  heavens.  But 
the  progress  and  development  of  the  higher 
manifestation  or  incarnation  of  the  Divine  must 
be  common  and  natural.  It  must  take  place  in 
such  a  land  as  Judea,  under  such  a  reign  as  that 
of  Herod,  of  Archelaus,  and  Herod  Antipas,  in 
such  a  house  as  that  of  Joseph,  in  some  humble 


THE   DISCIPLINE.  231 

occupation  or  trade,  and  by  such  ordinary  min 
istrations  as  fall  to  the  lot  of  mortals.  Jesus 
must  be  prepared  for  his  great  work,  and  in 
every  phase  and  form  of  existence,  of  trial  and 
suffering,  discover  to  man  the  divine  love  and 
pity.  Thus  he  must  be  persecuted  even  when  a 
child,  go  down  into  Egypt  to  escape  the  wrath 
of  the  king,  wander  about  in  lowliness  and  pov 
erty,  hold  fellowship  with  nature  and  man,  be 
tempted  even  of  the  devil,  pass  through  all  stages 
of  change  and  fiery  trial,  and  finally  of  agony 
and  death,  for  the  redemption  of  the  lost. 

It  is  only  thus  he  can  make  himself  knoivn, 
only  thus  he  can  fully  discover  to  us  his  indwell 
ing  glory,  and  bring  down  to  man,  not  simply 
the  absolute  nature,  but  the  very  heart  of  the 
great  God,  yearning  for  the  return  of  his  off 
spring;  only  thus  that  he  can  sanctify  for  our 
benefit,  life,  death,  and  the  grave ;  and  so  be 
come  our  Forerunner  to  glory. 

It  is  on  this  ground  that  one  of  the  Christian 
fathers  (Irenoous)  has  remarked  that  Jesus 
"  came  to  save  all  by  himself,  all  who  through 
him  are  regenerated  unto  God  —  infants,  little 
children,  boys,  young  men  and  old."  Hence  "  he 
passed  through  every  age,  and  for  the  infants  he 
became  an  infant,  sanctifying  the  infants  ;  among 
the  little  children  he  became  a  little  child,  sancti 
fying  those  who  belonged  to  that  age,  and,  at 


232  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

the  same  time,  presenting  to  them  an  example 
of  piety,  of  well-doing,  and  of  obedience  ;  among 
the  young  men  he  became  a  young  man,  that  he 
might  set  them  an  example,  and  sanctify  them 
to  the  Lord."  *  The  thought  is  not  only  beau 
tiful,  but  just  and  scriptural ;  for  our  Savior  did, 
by  means  of  his  childhood,  youth,  and  rnaturer 
life,  confer  dignity  upon  all,  and  prove  that  all 
may  be  made  pure  and  happy.  He  thus  fitted 
himself  to  become,  in  our  human  affections,  the 
true  brother  and  friend  of  man,  in  all  possible 
relations.  How  profoundly  this  single  circum 
stance  has  affected  the  sympathies  of  mankind, 
all  must  be  aware.  Childhood  and  old  age  have 
felt  it  alike.  The  mother,  gazing  upon  her  in 
fant,  has  felt  it  through  all  the  depths  of  her 
being.  The  child  itself  has  felt  it  when  hearing 
that  mother  sing  of  the  Holy  One,  "  cradled  in  a 
manger,"  and  "  fed  with  the  beasts  of  the  stall." 
All  ranks  and  conditions  have  acknowledged  it. 
The  poor  man  in  his  cottage,  and  the  prince  in 
his  palace,  the  wild  Indian,  converted  to  Christ, 
and  the  polished  European,  consecrating  himself 
and  his  family  to  God. 

"  O,  who,  that  feels  the  spell  which  Heaven 

Casts  round  us  in  our  infancy, 
But,  more  or  less,  hath  homage  given 
To  childhood,  half-unconscious  why  ? 

*  Neander's  Church  History,  vol.  i.  p.  311. 


THE   DISCIPLINE.  233 

A  yet  more  touching  mystery 

Is  in  that  feeling  comprehended 
When  thus  is  brought  before  his  eye 

Godhead  with  childhood  strangely  blended." 

The  same  fact  has  tended  to  impart  a  peculiar 
dignity  and  worth  to  human  nature  itself,  and  to 
the  whole  life  of  rnan,  married  thus  to  the  ce 
lestial  and  divine.  The  majesty  of  the  Son  of 
God  seems  thereby  to  be  veiled,  and  doubtless, 
in  some  partial  and  relative  sense,  it  really  is 
so.  But  how  immeasurably  exalted  is  our  poor 
humanity,  and  what  treasures  are  thence  in 
store  for  us,  when  we,  too,  are  made  "  partakers 
of  the  divine  nature  !  "  Certainly  it  was  an  in 
finite  condescension  on  his  part  to  "  take  upon 
him  the  seed  of  Abraham,"  and  appear  among 
men,  as  one  of  the  least  and  lowliest  of  all,  go 
ing  down  to  the  deepest  deeps  of  human  sorrow, 
that  he  might  lift  us  up  to  God.  But  the  Divin 
ity  was  not  thereby  degraded,  as  some  have 
rashly  concluded,  any  more  than  a  Howard  or  a 
Fry  in  prison,  and  among  thieves,  is  degraded. 
Indeed,  the  Divine  is  equally  glorified  in  descend 
ing  as  in  ascending ;  so  that  we  conclude  that 
the  mysterious  union  between  the  highest  Es 
sence  in  the  universe  and  the  lowliest  form  of 
men  was  at  once  natural  and  becoming.  We 
know  of  no  shrine  of  the  Deity  so  beautiful  as 
the  spotless  body  of  "  a  holy  child."  The  in 
finite  lies  nearer  to  the  souls  of  children  than  we 
20* 


234  CHRIST   IN   HISTORT. 

are  aware.  Indeed,  it  is  "  all  about  us  in  our  in 
fancy."  And  when  one  is  found  absolutely 
stainless,  that  child  forms  a  temple  of  the  Deity 
more  refulgent  than  all  the  starry  spheres.  Even 
on  the  cross,  marred  and  dying,  there  is  a  grandeur 
in  the  person  of  the  man  Jesus  Christ,  for  which 
the  presence  of  the  indwelling  Divinity  alone 
can  account. 

Let  us  not,  then,  be  surprised  if  we  find  the 
Son  of  God,  who  is  equally  the  Son  of  man, 
subjected  to  the  will  of  his  human  parents,  in 
creasing  in  years  and  strength,  and  "  in  favor 
with  God  and  man,"  performing  the  accustomed 
round  of  duties,  secular  and  sacred,  mingling 
with  his  neighbors  and  kinsfolk  in  the  humble 
town  of  Nazareth  —  asking  and  hearing  ques 
tions  with  the  doctors  in  the  temple,  working  at 
the  occupation  of  a  carpenter,  or  celebrating  the 
rites  of  the  Jewish  faith.  Let  us  not  be  sur 
prised  if  we  find  him  "  a  hungered,"  or  "  athirst," 
or  "  weary "  at  the  close  of  day,  tempted  of 
Satan,  "  troubled  in  spirit,"  or  rejoicing  with 
deep  and  peculiar  joy,  "weeping  with  those  that 
weep,  and  rejoicing  with  those  that  rejoice," 
mingling  in  life's  festal  or  mournful  scenes,  par 
taking  of  common  pleasure,  and  bearing,  in  all 
things,  the  sorrows  and  infirmities  of  man.  Se 
rene  and  self-possessed  in  his  higher  nature,  he 
is  yet  linked  to  man,  as  the  soul  is  linked  to  the 


THE   DISCIPLINE.  235 

body,  and  while  the  union  lasts,  must  sympathize 
in  all  which  is  common  to  the  race.  "  It  be 
hooved  him  in  all  things  to  be  made  like  unto 
his  brethren."  Why  ?  That  we  might  be  able 
to  recognize  him  as  "  a  merciful  and  faithful 
High  Priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God."  "We 
need  not,  then,  be  shocked,  if  we  hear  his  towns 
people  speak  of  him  contemptuously,  as  "the 
carpenter's  son,"  whose  kinsfolk  they  know,  or 
if  we  find  him  "despised  and  rejected  of  men, 
a  man  of  sorrow,  and  acquainted  with  grief."  If 
the  life  of  man,  is  "  a  great  and  inscrutable  mys 
tery,"  — if  the  life  especially  of  a  good  man,  in  the 
lowest  walks  of  poverty  and  sorrow,  has  in  it 
something  divine,  —  let  us  not  wonder  that  the 
Son  of  God  should  pass  through  such  a  life,  and 
thereby  make  it  unutterably  sublime. 

Night  must  come  to  reveal  the  stars.  The 
beacon  shines  brightest  in  the  fiercest  storms. 
Love  is  the  most  intensely  beautiful  amid  long 
watchings  and  agonies.  And  so  best  is  the 
glory  of  God  revealed  in  the  poverty,  lowliness, 
and  suffering  of  Christ.  The  love,  too,  of  a  long 
and  checkered  life  is  better  than  the  love  of  a 
single  act,  or  even  of  many  detached  acts  ;  and 
thence  Jesus  must  live  and  labor,  and  suffer 
through  many  years,  the  vivid  incarnation  of  the 
infinite  heart  yearning  for  the  restoration  of  the 
lost.  It  is  only  thus  that  the  overwhelming  con- 


236  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

viction  is  brought  home  to  our  souls,  that  we  must 
and  can  be  "regenerated  unto  God,"  and  though 
sinful,  fitted  for  glory  and  immortality. 

Little  or  nothing  is  recorded  of  the  first  thirty 
years  of  our  Savior's  life ;  and  in  this  we  see 
the  profound  continence  and  wisdom  of  the 
sacred  writers.  It  was  a  season  of  preparation, 
of  common  every-day  duties,  common  every-day 
trials.  With  a  slight  exception  or  two,  it  had 
nothing  in  it  of  the  strange  or  marvellous,  such 
as  fictitious  writers  would  have  easily  found. 
And  hence  the  "  Gospel  of  the  Infancy,"  as  it  is 
called,  an  apocryphal  Gospel  of  early  times,  dif 
fers,  toto  ccdlo,  from  the  inspired  records,  indul 
ging,  as  it  does,  in  all  sorts  of  foolish  stories  and 
extravagant  figments,  unworthy  of  the  simple 
grandeur  and  serene  beauty  of  our  Savior's  char 
acter.  It  represents  him  as  a  capricious,  re 
vengeful  child,  working  the  most  preposterous 
miracles,  on  the  slightest  and  most  insignificant 
occasions.  How  superior  to  all  this  the  sober 
narratives  of  those  who  copied  from  the  divine 
original,  and  narrated  only  what  they  knew  to 
be  fact  and  reality !  In  boyhood  itself,  Christ 
must  "be  about  his  Father's  business,"  as  he 
told  his  virgin  mother.  Even  then,  the  con 
sciousness  of  an  ineffable  union  with  "  the  Fa 
ther,"  of  a  high  spiritual  destiny,  and  of  an  ac 
tual  preparation  for  it,  is  indicated  amid  the 
common  cares  and  sympathies  of  his  life. 


THE    DISCIPLINE.  237 

An  interesting  question  here  presents  itself,  to 
which  we  may  profitably  devote  the  remainder  of 
this  chapter.  How  and  where  was  Christ  edu 
cated  ?  Or  rather,  perhaps,  was  Christ  educated 
at  all,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term  ?  Among 
what  learned  rabbis,  or  in  what  sacred  school, 
if  any,  was  he  trained  as  a  teacher  of  righteous 
ness  ?  The  question  has  been  debated  chiefly 
by  the  enemies  of  Christianity,  who  maintain 
that  Christ  acquired  his  wonderful  knowledge 
by  ordinary  means,  and  that  there  is  nothing 
really  original  in  his  system,  admirable,  especial 
ly  in  its  moral  aspects,  as  they  are  compelled  to 
acknowledge  it.*  The  sublime  truths  taught  by 
our  Savior,  the  spirituality,  purity,  and  com 
prehensiveness  of  his  views  as  a  Reformer  of 
society,  and  especially  the  simplicity,  sublimity, 
and  perfection  of  his  moral  code,  confessed  alike 
by  infidels  and  Christians,  must  be  accounted 
for.  There  is  no  effect  without  an  adequate 
cause ;  those,  therefore,  who  deny  the  divine 
origin  and  authority  of  Christianity,  must  ex 
plain  it  on  natural  grounds. 

Now.  it  may  be  allowed  that  Jesus  had  access 
to  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  which  he  tells 
us  he  came  "  to  fulfil,"  not  to  destroy ;  and  thence 
doubtless  might  derive  some  of  his  grandest  con- 

*  Strauss,  Bruno  Bauer,  Newman,  and  others,  represent  him  sim 
ply  as  an   extraordinary  man,  taught,  probably,  by  the  Essenes. 


238  CHRIST    IN    IIISTOIIY. 

ceptions  of  God,  of  duty,  and  immortality ;  but 
this  will  not  account  for  the  whole,  sceptics 
themselves  being  judges ;  for  he  left  behind  him, 
in  the  old  dispensation,  all  that  was  tempora 
ry,  local,  and  ceremonial,  all  that  was  narrow, 
crude,  and  imperfect ;  and  not  only  so,  but  he 
added  certain  peculiar  principles  and  precepts, 
organized  the  church,  and  thence  society  on  a 
new  and  wider  basis,  and  gave  the  whole  a 
grandeur,  force,  and  comprehensiveness  utterly 
unknown  to  Moses  and  the  prophets. 

Did  he  derive  his  information,  then,  from  other 
books  and  documents  ?  Alas  !  there  were  none 
from  which  he  could  derive  them ;  unless  he 
possessed  that  peculiar  alchemy  of  heaven,  of 
extracting  all  the  good  out  of  every  book  and 
system,  leaving  nothing  behind  but  the  poison 
and  the  dross.  Were  this  really  the  case,  it 
would  prove  him  as  much  inspired  as  if  the 
whole  proceeded  from  his  unaided  mind.  It 
would  be  collecting  by  a  power  which  none 
but  God,  or  a  God-inspired  being,  could  pos 
sess,  the  fragments  of  truth,  scattered,  as  Milton 
finely  imagines,  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  like 
the  mangled  remains  of  the  god  Osiris.*  Im 
agine  the  broken  parts  of  a  magnificent  temple 
lying  promiscuously  over  a  wide  and  tangled 
wilderness.  What  genius,  but  of  that  of  a 

*  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  185. 


THE    DISCIPLINE.  239 

Michael  Angelo,  were  it  possible  even  for  such 
as  he,  could  bring  them  together,  and  constitute 
them  into  the  fair  proportions  of  an  original 
work  ?  That  Christ  should  be  fancied  by  scep 
tics  to  have  gathered  all  the  good  of  Oriental 
theosophy,  Grecian  wisdom,  as  well  as  Jewish 
faith,  into  a  fair  and  well-proportioned  system,  is  a 
tacit  acknowledgment  of  his  amazing  superiority. 

But  there  is  not  the  slightest  evidence"  that  he 
ever  studied  these  systems,  or  had  the  least 
familiarity  with  philosophical  speculations  of 
any  kind.  Indeed,  nothing  is  clearer  than  his 
decided  rejection  of  all ..  speculative  theologies, 
as  well  as  the  mysteries  and  symbols  of  the 
ancient  pagan  faiths. 

With  the  exception  of  a  very  short  sojourn  in 
Egypt,  at  a  time  of  life  when  he  could  form  no 
acquaintance  with  Egyptian  literature  and  theol 
ogy,  he  spent  the  most  of  his  life  at  Nazareth. 
This  was  the  place  of  his  preparation  for  his 
public  ministry.  Remote  from  schools  of  learn 
ing,  he  gave  himself,  so  far  as  we  know,  to  the 
common  duties  of  religion  and  of  social  life,  and 
passed,  among  his  acquaintances,  as  one  of  the 
common  people.  When  the  Jews  listened  to  his 
remarkable  style  of  teaching,  they  expressed  their 
amazement,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  never  been 
taught,  like  other  learned  and  godly  men  whom 
they  revered.  "  Is  not  this  the  carpenter's  son, 


240  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

whose  kinsmen  we  know?  "  "  How,  then,  hath 
this  man  this  wisdom,  and  these  mighty  works  ?" 
Some  have  maintained,  that  he  might  have 
been  familiar  with  the  works  of  Philo,  the  cele 
brated  Alexandrian  Jew,  whose  allegorical  and 
philosophical  explanation  of  the  Mosaic  faith 
presents  some  lofty  and  attractive  features.  But 
Jesus  is  free  from  the  errors  and  fancies  of  Philo. 
His  method  of  thought  is  entirely  different.  The 
one  is  allegorical  and  speculative,  the  other  sim 
ple  and  spiritual.  Philo  speaks  as  a  philosopher, 
Jesus  as  a  prophet.  The  one  is  an  ingenious  but 
fanciful  thinker,  the  other  is  a  messenger  from 
God.  Philo,  indeed,  claims  to  be  inspired,  as, 
he  believes,  all  wise  and  good  men  are,  but 
writes  with  the  air  of  one  who  relies  much  on 
his  own  philosophic  genius.  He  allegorizes  the 
simplest  facts,  adding  or  retrenching,  glossing  or 
explaining  away,  as  he  sees  fit ;  and  thus,  while 
doing  homage,  apparently,  to  divine  revelation, 
he  goes  far  to  diminish  its  strength  and  under 
mine  its  authority.  Jesus  never  allegorizes  the 
facts  and  doctrines  of  the  Old  Testament ;  but, 
extracting  its  spirit,  proceeds,  both  in  his  teach 
ing  and  life,  to  fulfil  it,  or  fill  it  out,  that  is, 
complete  and  mature  its  teachings.* 

*  Philo  seems  to  have  no  idea  of  a  personal  Messiah,  especially 
of  a  suffering  Messiah,  and  makes  redemption,  as  in  Plato,  to  con 
sist  in  a  return  to  the  absolute  and  infinite,  without  any  proper 


THE    DISCIPLINE.  241 

Could  Jesus  have  been  educated  among  the 
Pharisees,  or  have  derived  from  them  the  prin 
ciples  of  his  system  ?  They  were  the  most  learned 
and  rigid  of  the  Jewish  sects,  and  exerted  a 
preponderating  influence  in  the  nation.  They 
passed  as  the  orthodox  formalists  of  the  times, 
and  laid  claims  to  the  highest  sanctity  and  worth. 
Venerating  all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
they  were  rigid  in  attending  fasts  and  festivals, 
and  in  observing  all  minute  and  ritual  forms. 
Our  Savior's  spirit  was  just  the  reverse.  He 
rejects  all  formalism  and  separatism,  all  assumed, 
external  sanctity,  all  vain  and  superstitious  cere 
monies.  Hence,  in  language  of  fire,  he  denounces 
the  Pharisees  as  a  generation  of  vipers  —  whited 
sepulchres  —  hypocrites.  Thus,  then,  while  agree 
ing  with  the  Pharisees  in  their  veneration  for  the 
fathers,  the  sacred  books,  and  the  law  of  God,  as 
also  with  their  views  touching  the  spirituality  of 
God,  and  the  resurrection  state,  he  renounces 
their  spirit  and  aim  as  destructive  to  true  religion 
and  virtue ! 

Well,  then,  could  the  Sadducees,  who  rejected 
the  great  mass  of  Jewish  traditions,  and  clung  to 
the  Pentateuch  as  the  original  and  infallible  reve- 


conception  of  an  atonement  or  a  personal  regeneration  — principles 
which  lie  at  the  very  foundation  of  Christianity.  The  Greek  philos 
ophy  exerted  upon  him  an  immense  influence.  Hence  it  has  been 
said  that  "  either  Plato  philonized  or  Philo  platonized." 

21 


242  CHRIST    IN    HISTOKY. 

lation  of  God,  have  been  the  teachers  of  Christ? 
Impossible;  for  their  low  and  unspiritual  views, 
their  Epicureanism,  as  well  as  their  scepticism 
touching  the  separate  existence  of  spirits,  and 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  were  his  abhorrence. 
The  fact  is,  the  Sadducees,  a  small  but  wealthy 
and  influential  class,  were  the  materialists  of 
Judaism.  They  denied  the  spiritual  world,  and, 
consequently,  made  as  much  of  the  present  as 
possible ;  living  a  free  and  Epicurean  life,  and  so 
caring  little  for  man,  or  God,  or  immortality. 
They  are  associated,  in  the  denunciations  of  our 
Savior,  with  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  as  equally 
the  children  of  perdition. 

A  single  supposition  only  remains,  and  that 
will  exhaust  the  subject,  namely,  that  Christ 
derived  his  peculiar  views  of  religion  and  mo 
rality  from  the  Essenes,  or  Esseans,  represented 
by  Josephus  and  Philo  as  the  third  sect  of  Jewish 
religionists,  or,  as  they  choose  to  term  them, philos 
ophers,  adapting  their  representations  to  Grecian 
and  Roman  modes  of  expression.  The  extreme 
anxiety  of  both  these  writers  to  recommend  every 
thing  Jewish  to  their  pagan  readers  has  thrown 
some  doubt  over  their  accounts.  They  vary 
somewhat,  though  both  have  a  slight  air  of 
romance.  Little  or  nothing  is  known,  from 
other  sources,  of  these  Essenes,  though  Pliny 
speaks  of  them  in  favorable  terms,  and  represents 


THE    DISCIPLINE.  243 

them  as  very  ancient.  His  account,  however,  is, 
probably,  borrowed  from  the  Jewish  writers,  or 
from  hearsay.  It  is  questionable  whether  Jose- 
phus,  or  even  Philo,  knew  much  of  them  from 
personal  observation.  Their  statements  are 
rather  vague  and  rhetorical.  It  is  singular,  too, 
that  no  mention  should  be  made  of  them  in  the 
New  Testament.  So  far  as  we  can  see,  our 
Savior  never  came  into  contact  with  any  of 
them.  This,  however,  may  be  accounted  for  on 
the  ground  of  the  smallncss  of  the  sect,  their 
monastic  and  retiring  habits,  and  their  residence 
at  a  distance  from  the  principal  scene  of  Christ's 
ministrations.  They  avoided  cities  and  places 
of  public  resort ;  took  no  part  in  the  questions 
or  agitations  of  the  times ;  shunned  promiscuous 
intercourse,  refusing  even  to  eat  with  any  but 
their  own  order.  The  name,  according  to  Jose- 
phus,  is  derived  from  the  Hebrew  asah,  because 
they  practised  the  healing  art ;  though  Philo  and 
others  have  suggested  a  different  origin.  It  is 
well  known  that  the  Jewish  high  priest  wore 
upon  his  breast  a  splendid  ornament,  in  which 
twelve  precious  stones  were  inserted,  represent 
ing  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  the  appellation 
of  \vhich  was  the  Essen.  It  was  worn  especial 
ly  when  the  high  priest  went  into  the  holy  of 
holies,  and  bore  an  intimate  relation  to  the  mat 
ter  of  divine  communications.  It  was  regarded 


244  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

as  a  means,  or  medium,  of  approach  to  the 
Deity;  or  at  least  signified,  as  the  Urim  and 
Thummim,  a  real  fellowship,  through  the  high 
priest,  between  Jehovah  and  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel.  Thus  one  mode  of  inquiring  the  mind 
of  God  was  by  Urim  and  Thummim.  The 
society  of  the  Essen,  or  the  Essenes,  then,  ac 
cording  to  this  view,  were  a  secret,  mystical 
fraternity,  who  professed  to  have  direct  and 
peculiar  access  to  the  Deity,  and  thence  claimed 
a  sort  of  prophetic  inspiration.  As  the  Phari 
sees  were  the  formalists,  and  the  Sadducees  the 
rationalists,  so  the  Essenes  were  the  mystics  of 
the  Jewish  nation. 

Their  principal  settlement  was  on  the  western 
shores  of  the  Dead  Sea  —  a  region  favorable, 
from  its  lone  and  desolate  aspects,  as  well  as  its 
ancient  and  thrilling  memories,  to  profound  and 
melancholy  thought.  From  this  they  slowly 
and  secretly  spread  themselves  through  other 
parts  of  Palestine,  and,  it  may  be,  southward  as 
far  as  Egypt,  where,  according  to  some,  they  re 
appeared  in  the  Therapeutce^  or  Jewish  ascetics 
of  Egypt. 

Both  Philo  and  Josephus  extol  them  for  their 
rigid  morality ;  their  simplicity  and  purity  of 
life;  their  quiet  and  gentle  temper;  their  hospi 
tality  and  piety.  They  generally  practised  celi 
bacy,  regarding  all  women  as  unchaste,  though 


THE    DISCIPLINE.  245 

some  of  them  did  not  altogether  disapprove  of 
marriage  ;  paid  great  attention  to  the  curative 
properties  of  plants,  practising  medicine ;  and, 
when  not  engaged  in  contemplation  or  devotion, 
spending  their  time  chiefly  in  agriculture,  or  in 
other  simple  and  rural  employments. 

They  formed  a  fraternity,  separate,  secret,  and 
exclusive  —  a  sort  of  Freemason,  or  Eleusinian 
order  —  admitting  members  only  after  a  novitiate 
of  three  years,  and  gradually  passing  them 
through  four  different  stages,  or  classes,  till  they 
arrived  at  what  they  deemed  the  most  perfect. 
Though  oaths  were  strictly  forbidden  on  ordinary 
occasions,  no  one  was  admitted  to  the  society 
without  solemnly  binding  himself,  by  the  most 
awful  oaths,  to  observe  the  rules  of  the  order, 
and  to  keep  its  secrets,  particularly  those  in  refer 
ence  "to  the  angels,"  about  wrhom  they  cherished 
some  superstitious  notions.  At  the  close  of  the 
first  year,  the  candidate  received  a  small  hatchet, 
a  white  apron,  or  girdle,  and  a  white  robe,  which 
had  a  mystical  or  symbolical  meaning.  They 
lived  upon  the  simplest  fare  ;  held  little  converse 
with  each  other,  except  at  meals;  the  four  dif 
ferent  classes  really  forming  separate  castes,  who 
regarded  contact  with  each  other  as  contamination. 
They  performed  frequent  ablutions,  but  held  an 
ointing  with  oil  in  abhorrence.  Philo  denies  that 
they  offered  any  sacrifices,  but  Josephus  affirms 
21* 


246  CHRIST    IN    HISTOUY. 

that  they  only  declined  offering  them  at  the  temple. 
Among  themselves  they  performed  sacrificial  rites, 
with  fasting  and  prayer,,  at  the  dead  of  night,  or 
at  early  dawn. 

Justice  and  charity  were  regarded  by  the 
Essenes  as  cardinal  virtues.  Slavery  among 
them  was  absolutely  forbidden.  They  were  also 
communists,  having  all  things  common  in  the 
matter  of  property  and  food. 

They  believed  in  one  God,  whom  they  wor 
shipped  chiefly  in  the  night,  regarding  that 
season,  in  common  with  many  of  the  Oriental 
religionists,  as  peculiarly  sacred.  It  is  said  that 
they  worshipped  the  sun,  perhaps  as  the  symbol 
or  image  of  the  divine  glory  —  a  circumstance 
which  would  indicate  some  connection  with 
Oriental  theosophy.  At  all  events,  they  offered 
prayer  and  sang  hymns  at  the  dawn,  with  their 
faces  towards  the  rising  sun. 

Their  sacred  books  were  kept  secret,  and  used 
in  divination,  or  prophesying;  somewhat,  we 
fancy,  after  the  mode  of  the  Sortes  Virgiliance. 

Rejecting  the  great  mass  of  Jewish  traditions 
and  ceremonial  observances,  the  Essenes  super- 
stitiously  observed  some  ritual  usages  of  their 
own,  and  were  distinguished  by  their  rigid  man 
ner  of  keeping  the  Sabbath.  Abstemious  and 
ascetic,  they  despised  and  mortified  the  body, 
believing  it  to  be  the  seat  of  evil.  Josephus  says 


THE    DISCIPLINE.  247 

that  they  wore  their  clothes  till  they  fell  to  pieces. 
Their  notion  was,  that  the  souls  of  men  had  fallen 
from  the  regions  of  purity  and  light  into  gross  and 
sinful  bodies,  from  which,  in  due  time,  through 
piety  and  penance,  they  would  escape,  and  once 
more  rise  into  the  pure  and  spiritual  state. 
Hence  they  rejected  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
and  longed  for  reunion  with  God,  through  absti 
nence  and  death. 

The  Essenes  have  been  divided  into  the  theoret 
ical  and  practical,  the  former  being  identified  with 
the  TherapeutoB  of  Egypt,  who,  as  their  name 
imports,  devoted  themselves,  like  the  Essenes,  to 
the  healing  art ;  unless  we  are  to  understand  the 
term  symbolically,  as  having  reference  to  the 
health  of  the  soul.  Matter,  the  celebrated  author 
of  the  history  of  Gnosticism,  and  Neander,  the 
church  historian,  doubt  the  connection  of  these 
two  orders  of  ascetics,  supposing,  perhaps  justly, 
that  the  monastic  tendency  might  develop  itself 
spontaneously  in  both  countries,  as  it  did  in  va 
rious  Oriental  nations  even  among  the  heathen, 
and,  in  the  middle  ages,  among  Christians.*  The 
Therapeutic  had  their  principal  settlement  on 
the  tranquil  shores  of  Lake  Mceris,  not  far  from 


*  Mosheim,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  Commentaries,  also  doubts  the 
propriety  of  the  distinction.  His  observations  upon  the  Essenes 
are  remarkably  just  and  discriminating.  Both  he  and  Neander  give 
it  as  their  opinion  that  considerable  varieties  obtained  among  them. 


248  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

the  brilliant  capital  of  Grecian  Egypt,  where 
they  passed  their  lives  in  monastic  seclusion, 
shut  up  in  separate  cells,  devoted  to  prayer  and 
contemplation.  The  sacred  oracles  formed  the 
basis  of  their  studies  ;  but  they  interpreted  them, 
after  Philo  and  other  theosophic  writers,  allegor- 
ically.  Their  usages  were  those  of  the  anchoritic 
life.  They  exercised  themselves  in  fasting  and 
other  ascetic  practices,  taking  only  one  meal  in 
the  evening,  consisting  of  bread  and  water.  In 
deed,  they  sometimes  spent  whole  days  without 
eating.  They  met  together,  in  solemn  assembly, 
each  seventh  day  and  more  especially  on  the 
seventh  week ;  partaking  together  of  fraternal  re 
pasts  seasoned  with  salt  and  hyssop,  listening 
to  theosophic  lessons,  singing  in  chorus  ancient 
traditional  hymns,  and  performing  certain  mys 
tic  dances.* 

The  fact  is,  the  Alexandrian  Judaism  min 
gled  too  readily  with  the  spirit  of  Oriental  and 
thaumaturgic  mysticism ;  and  the  usages  of  the 
Therapeutse  were  but  a  mixture  of  Jewish  and 
pagan  notions,  reduced  to  practice,  in  monastic 
seclusion  and  ascetic  severity.  Hence,  while  the 
TherapeutsD,  as  well  as  the  Essenes,  clearly  pos 
sessed  some  noble  and  even  beautiful  traits  of 
character,  they  fell  into  errors  and  extravagances, 

*  The  view  of  the  Essenes  and  Therapeutic  here  given  is  based 
upon  the  explicit  statements  of  Philo  or  Josephus.  See  Appen 
dix  D. 


THE    DISCIPLINE.  249 

alien  from  the  spirit,  at  once,  of  Judaism  and  of 
Christianity.  Infinitely  superior  as  the  Essenes 
were,  both  to  the  Sadducees  and  the  Pharisees, 
and  embodying  in  their  creed  some  elevated 
tendencies,  their  whole  system  was  exclusive  and 
ascetic,  just  the  contrary  of  Christianity,  as 
taught  by  our  Savior,  and  exemplified  in  his  life. 
Undoubtedly  there  are  some  slight  coincidences 
in  the  two  systems ;  but  there  are,  also,  the  most 
obvious  and  striking  differences.  Christ  was  no 
Essene,  —  no  monk,  or  ascetic,  —  for  he  mingled 
freely  in  society;  approved  of  marriage,  sanc 
tioning  it  by  his  presence  at  the  marriage  in 
Cana  of  Galilee ;  partook  of  ordinary  food  and 
drink ;  so  much  so,  that  his  enemies  charged 
him,  falsely  enough  to  be  sure,  but  with  an  ap 
parent  plausibility,  with  being  "  a  gluttonous 
man,  a  wine  bibber,  a  friend  of  publicans  and 
sinners."  His  system  is  not  allegorical,  or  mys 
tical,  in  the  technical  sense  of  these  terms ; 
neither  is  it  narrow,  monkish,  and  exclusive  ;  but 
all-comprehensive,  practical,  social,  and  free  —  a 
religion  for  man  in  all  the  relations  of  life  and 

O 

society.  Like  that  of  the  Essenes,  his  kingdom 
is  not  of  this  world;  but,  unlike  theirs,  it  has  no 
tones  provincial  —  no  peculiar  garb  —  no  strange 
Shibboleth,  or  oath  —  no  secret  notions  and 
usages  —  no  worship  of  angels,  or  despising  of 
the  body  —  no  superstitious  reverence  of  the 


250  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

night  —  no  worship  of  the  sun  or  stars  —  no 
castes,  or  orders  —  no  dread  of  society,  or  of  com 
mon  every-day  duties.  Like  theirs,  the  church 
of  the  first  ages  often  had  a  community  of  goods, 
arid  took  special  care  of  the  poor,  the  sick,  the  sor 
rowful,  the  dying;  but,  unlike  the  Essenic  frater 
nity,  it  was  composed  of  all  ranks  and  conditions 
of  men,  and  went  forth  among  the  unregenerate 
and  outcast,  preaching  a  free  gospel,  and  urging 
them  to  press,  without  hesitation,  into  the  fold 
of  the  Redeemer.  Like  the  Essenes,  the  primitive 
Christians,  following  Christ,  abandoned  the  dis 
tinctions  and  vanities  of  the  world,  despised 
suffering  and  death,  and  were  preeminently 
distinguished  for  their  justice,  veracity,  hospi 
tality,  arid  fortitude  ;  but,  unlike  them,  were 
actuated  by  a  burning  zeal  for  the  spread  of  the 
truth,  and  the  salvation  of  the  heathen.  While 
the  Essenes  shut  themselves  up  in  their  secluded 
settlements,  the  Christians  went  every  where 
preaching  the  word,  and  diffusing  among  men 
the  blessings  of  salvation. 

But  it  is  unnecessary  to  pursue  the  comparison 
further.  It  is  clear,  not  only  from  the  absence  of 
the  slightest  historical  testimony,  but  from  in 
trinsic  evidence,  that  Christ  and  Christianity 
could  not  have  originated  among  the  Essenes  of 
Palestine,  or  the  Tberapeutoc  in  Egypt.* 

*  It  is  well  known  that  Roman  Catholic  writers  have  claimed  the 
Essenes  and  Therapcutrc  as  Christian  monks,  in  order  to  justify  the 


THE  DISCIPLINP:.  251 

Christ,  even  in  the  commencement  of  his  career, 
was  altogether  peculiar  and  original.  He  does 
not  even  seem  to  belong  to  his  age.  Who  thinks 
of  him  as  a  Jew  at  all  ?  He  is  as  much  superior 
to  his  era,  and  his  nation,  as  if  he  had  descended, 
full  grown,  from  a  higher  sphere ;  as  if  he  had 
sprung  immediately  from  the  bosom  of  God. 
And  indeed  he  did  come  forth  from  God,  and, 
while  on  earth,  dwelt,  so  to  speak,  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Father.  "  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 
time  ;  the  only-begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared  him." 

monastic  system  as  ancient  and  apostolical.  But  the  whole  is  an 
assumption,  without  historical  basis.  It  is  singular,  however,  that 
De  Quincey,  in  two  articles  contributed  years  ago  to  Blackwood's 
Magazine,  has  defended  this  view,  or  at  least  a  modification  of  this 
viow,  maintaining  that  the  Essenes  were  primitive  Christians,  mis 
taken  or  misrepresented  by  Josephus  (whom  he  bitterly  denounces) 
as  a  Jewish  sect.  De  Quincey,  however,  has  presented  no  new  facts 
upon  the  subject.  His  reasoning  is  altogether  hypothetical,  and  we 
are  compelled  to  say,  fanciful.  Indeed,  De  Quincey,  with  all  his 
learning,  is  not  particularly  reliable  in  questions  of  this  sort.  He 
is  not  unfrequently  carried  away  by  his  imagination,  in  opposition  to 
plain  historical  facts.  The  testimonies  of  Philo  he  has  not  even 
considered.  He  makes  no  account  of  the  deliberate,  well-founded 
opinions  of  su»h  historians  as  Mosheim,  Neander,  Hase,  Matter, 
Giescler,  and  others.  Any  one  who  will  take  the  trouble  of  reading 
his  articles  will  find  his  reasoning  conjectural  from  beginning  to 
end.  We  refer  our  readers  once  more  to  note  D  in  the  Appendix. 


CHAPTER    X. 

INAUGURATION,  OR   JOHN  THE  BAPTIST. 

SOME  time  before  the  commencement  of  Christ's 
public  career,  Judea  was  reduced  to  the  condition 
of  a  Roman  province.  Archelaus,  after  a  weak 
and  disastrous  reign,  as  ethnarch,  for  nine  years, 
was  banished  into  Gaul.  The  country  was  sub 
jected  to  the  capricious  despotism  of  Pontius 
Pilate,  the  Roman  procurator,  who  took  every 
opportunity  of  humbling  the  Jews,  and  breaking 
their  national  spirit.  He  was  the  fifth.  Roman 
governor  of  Judea,  and  received  his  appointment 
from  Tiberius  Ca?sar.  He  occupied  that  position 
about  ten  years,  and  distinguished  himself  by  his 
spasmodic  energy  and  cruelty.  He  is  known  in 
history  chiefly  in  connection  with  our  Savior's 
death.  He  introduced,  not  only  into  Cresarea, 
his  ordinary  residence,  but  into  Jerusalem  itself, 
the  idolatrous  standard  of  the  Roman  empire, 
and  attempted  to  suspend  certain  bucklers,  bear 
ing  the  image  of  the  emperor,  in  the  palace  of 
Herod.  The  Sanhedrim  was  still  permitted  to 
exercise  some  jurisdiction,  but  was  sadly  checked 
and  degraded.  This,  as  far  as  possible,  they 

(259) 


JOHN    THE   BAPTIST.  253 

endeavored,  to  conceal  both  from  themselves  and 
the  people.  Their  claims  seemed  as  lofty  as 
ever ;  and  they  guarded  with  an  intense  jealousy 
the  ancient  institutions  and  usages  of  the  nation. 
Throughout  the  country,  publicans  or  tax  gath 
erers,  under  the  appointment  of  Rome,  constantly 
reminded  the  people  of  her  subjection  to  foreign 
domination.  Galling  burdens  chafed  them  at 
every  point.  Their  very  religion  was  subjected 
to  rude,  pagan  interference.  The  high  priest 
was  displaced  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Roman  proc 
urator,  and  sometimes  with  insulting  levity  and 
violence.  No  one  could  be  initiated  into  that 
office  without  the  sanction  of  Rome.  Religious 
sects  were  inflamed  against  each  other.  The 
Herodians,  as  they  were  called,  were  universally 
hated.  False  to  their  ancient  faith,  they  yielded 
their  necks  to  the  conqueror,  and  were  active  in 
modifying  the  spirit  and  institutions  of  their 
country.  The  most  fierce  and  sanguinary  fanati 
cism  raged  amongst  the  followers  and  imitators 
of  Judas,  the  Gaulonite,  the  leader  of  those  who 
attempted  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  Rome.  There 
was  something,  indeed,  noble  in  their  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice,  for  they  contemned  suffering  and 
death,  and  fought  only  for  their  country  and  their 
religion.  Judas  and  his  followers,  however,  per 
ished  miserably.  The  nation  every  where  was 
agitated  by  treasons  and  tumults,  often  repressed 

99 


254  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

by  the  iron  hand  of  Pilate,  who  more  than 
once  mingled  the  blood  of  the  people  with  their 
sacrifices.  Indeed,  the  whole  country  was  in 
a  ferment,  resembling  a  volcano  heaving  and 
dashing  beneath  the  thin  surface,  previous  to  a 
violent  eruption. 

John  the  Baptist,  stern  and  majestic  as  a  rock 
of  the  wilderness,  where,  in  devout  meditation, 
he  loved  to  wander,  was  commissioned  as  the 
messenger  or  herald  of  the  Messiah.  Coming 
"  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias,"  according  to 
ancient  prediction,  it  was  his  office  to  introduce 
the  Redeemer  to  the  world,  and  so  prepare  the 
way  for  his  public  ministry.  He  made  his  ap 
pearance  in  the  wilderness  of  Judea,  by  the 
banks  of  the  sacred  Jordan.  As  a  reformer  and 
preacher  of  repentance,  John,  though  humble 
and  devout,  was  severe,  and  even  ascetic.  He 
came  to  rouse  the  people  from  their  spiritual 
slumbers,  and  announce  the  approach  of  the  De 
liverer.  In  awful  and  thrilling  tones,  like  a  voice 
from  eternity,  he  proclaimed  his  coming  and 
kingdom.  In  anticipation  of  this  august  event, 
he  baptized,  in  the  Jordan,  multitudes  who  re 
pented  of  their  sins,  and  professed  to  receive  his 
teaching  in  reference  to  the  speedy  establish 
ment  of  the  new  spiritual  kingdom  of  the  Mes 
siah.  Many,  indeed,  both  among  the  Sadducees 
and  Pharisees,  he  rejected,  discriminating  thus 


JOHN    THE    BAPTIST.  255 

between  the  sincere  and  the  insincere,  the  false 
and  the  true  hearted.  His  was  not  simply  a 
baptism  of  external  form,  but  of  "  faith  and  re 
pentance,"  a  symbol  of  a  true  inward  change 
and  preparation  for  the  Redeemer,  with  his 
higher  baptism  of  fire  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

But  few,  even  of  those  who  listened  to  the 
teachings  of  John,  understood  the  "  spiritual 
nature  of  the  kingdom  of  God,"  and  all,  with 
scarcely  an  exception,  were  expecting  in  the 
Christ  a  mighty  conqueror,  a  glorious,  earth- 
born  king.  That  the  great  body  of  those  who 
were  baptized  by  John,  in  anticipation  of  the 
Messiah's  coming,  were  sincere  in  their  belief,  so 
far  as  it  went,  cannot  be  doubted.  A  great  and 
happy  reformation  of  manners  was  the  result. 
The  attention  of  the  whole  community  was  ex 
cited.  A  strange  thrill  passed  through  them,  as 
they  listened  to  this  new  Elijah,  recalling  the 
long  silent  voices  of  the  prophets.  Then  the 
way  was  prepared  for  the  public  appearance  of 
the  Messiah.  The  dawn  of  the  new  day  was 
visible  on  the  hills.  The  star,  which  heralded 
the  approaching  sun,  shone  bright  and  clear  in 
the  horizon. 

As  it  is  important  to  understand  the  character 
of  John  the  Baptist,  and  his  relations  to  Christ, 
we  will  enter  a  little  into  detail  respecting  his 
life  and  ministry.  The  son  of  Zachariah  and 


256  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

Elisabeth,  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  of  the  race 
of  the  priesthood,  he  was  born  a  little  before 
Christ,  probably  at  Hebron,  or  Jutta,  a  sacerdotal 
city,  situated  among  the  mountains,  or  "  hill 
country  "  of  Judea.  His  birth  had  been  foretold 
to  his  father,  and  his  name  given  him,  in  antici 
pation,  by  an  angel.  He  spent  his  early  years,  it 
is  presumed,  in  his  native  town,  far  from  the 
tumults  of  the  world.  It  is  said,  in  the  sacred 
narrative,  that  he  was  "in  the  wilderness  of 
Juclea,"  [called  such  because  it  was  a  region  of 
less  fertility  and  population  than  the  rest  of  Pal 
estine.]  until  the  commencement  of  his  ministry, 
or,  as  it  is  expressed,  "  his  showing,  or  manifes 
tation  to  Israel."  Here,  in  retirement  and  hu 
mility,  he  acquired,  by  grace  divine,  that  purity 
and  force  of  character  necessary  to  the  fulfil 
ment  of  his  mission.  His  manners  were  primi 
tive  and  simple  ;  his  fare  and  his  dress  humble, 
and  even  ascetic.  What  was  his  precise  educa 
tion,  we  are  not  informed.  Some  have  supposed 
that  he  must  have  received  his  peculiar  views 
and  habits  from  the  Essenes.  Pie  has,  we  admit, 
somewhat  the  appearance  and  manners  of  those 
simple-hearted  ascetics;  he  possesses  their  purity 
and  love  of  solitude,  their  energy  and  dignity  of 
character.  And  as  God  works  by  means  in  pre 
paring  the  agents  and  instrumentalities  of  his 
will,  it  is  not  absolutely  impossible  that  John  may 


JOHN    THE   BAPTIST.  257 

have  associated  somewhat  with  those  primitive 
hermits,  and  acquired  some  of  their  views  and 
feelings.  But  this  is  a  mere  conjecture  at  best, 
and,  upon  the  whole,  is  not  sustained  by  any  facts 
in  the  case.  For,  in  the  first  place,  John  might 
have  possessed  all  his  simplicity,  self-denial,  and 
energy,  without  ever  having  seen  an  Essene,  or 
belonged  to  any  of  their  fraternities.  He  could 
not  have  been  educated  among  them  without  a 
regular  novitiate,  and,  consequently,  must  have 
renounced  the  peculiar  views  of  his  father,  and 
many  of  the  usages  of  his  immediate  family  and 
connections.  But  of  this  we  have  not  the  slight 
est  hint.  His  food,  "locusts  and  wild  honey," 
upon  which  he  chiefly  subsisted  in  the  wilder 
ness,  was  the  common  fare  of  many  poor  peo 
ple  in  that  part  of  the  land,  and  would  not  seem 
at  all  unnatural  to  them.  Indeed,  his  life  might 
have  been  simply  that  of  a  Nazarene,  a  thing  by 
no  means  uncommon  among  all  the  Jewish  sects. 
The  quiet  and  solitary  scenes  in  which  he  spent 
his  youth,  the  simplicity,  purity,  and  devotion  of 
many  of  the  "  hill  people,"  especially  of  some 
of  the  old  sacerdotal  families,  would  naturally 
foster  his  contemplative  and  even  ascetic  turn. 
His  parents  were  pious  and  simple  hearted, 
"  walking  in  all  the  ordinances  and  command 
ments  of  God  blameless."  He  was  the  promised-, 
and,  consequently,  the  cherished  child,  and  thence 

99  * 


258  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

their  most  precious  offering'  to  God.  Like 
Samson,  or  like  Samuel  of  old,  he  was  brought 
up  as  a  consecrated  son,  as  a  sacred  Nazarene, 
who  one  day  was  to  perform  a  great  work  for 
God  and  his  church.  We  can  easily  understand 
how  his  mind  would  dwell  upon  the  usages  of 
the  olden  time,  the  simplicity  and  energy  of  the 
ancient  Jewish  faith,  the  noble  examples  of  hero 
ism  and  self-denial  among  the  prophets,  recorded 
in  the  sacred  books,  and  how,  consequently,  he 
would  be  fired  with  a  noble  enthusiasm  to  emu 
late  their  example  and  fulfil  his  mission.  His 
entire  training,  so  far  as  his  parents  were  con 
cerned,  would  be  directed  to  this  single  end. 
They  knew  that  the  herald  of  Christ  was  to 
come  in  the  spirit  of  Elijah  ;  and  as  that  illustri 
ous  prophet  spent  much  of  his  time  in  solitude, 
and  evinced  a  noble  spirit  of  heroism  and  self- 
denial,  being  very  "  zealous  for  the  Lord  God," 
so  would  they  encourage  in  their  son  similar 
habits  and  modes  of  life.  Then,  who  can  tell 
how  early  he  felt  the  inspiration  of  God,  moving 
him  to  undertake  the  high  mission  to  which  he 
was  destined  ;  or  how  natural  and  easy  he  found 
it,  even  without  instruction,  to  emulate  the  purity 
of  the  ancient  seers  ? 

We  have  the  highest  proof  of  the  correctness 
of  this  view,  in  the  prediction  of  the  angel,  upon 
which,  doubtless,  his  parents  would  act  in  his 


JOHN    THE    BAPTIST.  259 

education.  His  course  is  described  by  the  celes 
tial  messenger  as  that  of  a  Nazarene :  "  For  he 
shall  be  great  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  shall 
drink  neither  wine  nor  strong  drink,  and  he  shall 
be  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  even  from  his 
mother's  womb."  Nay,  further,  his  entire  mode 
of  life,  as  the  "  forerunner  of  the  Messiah,"  is 
detailed  —  a  circumstance,  which,  known  to  his 
parents,  and  in  due  time  to  himself,  must  have 
shaped  his  entire  character  and  habits.  "  And 
many  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall  he  turn  to  the 
Lord  their  God.  And  he  shall  go  before  him, 
[the  Messiah,]  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias, 
to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  unto  the  chil 
dren,  and  the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
just ;  to  make  ready  a  people  prepared  for  the 
Lord."  * 

The  same  great  truth  is  proclaimed  by  the 
father,  in  the  peculiar  style  of  Hebrew  devotion 
and  thanksgiving,  at  the  birth  of  his  son \  "  And 
thou,  child,  shalt  be  called  the  prophet  of  the 
Highest ;  for  thou  shalt  go  before  the  face  of  the 
Lord,  to  prepare  his  way ;  to  give  knowledge 
of  salvation  to  his  people,  by  the  remission  of 
their  sins,  through  the  tender  mercy  of  our  God  ; 
whereby  the  dayspring  from  on  high  hath  visited 
us,  to  give  light  to  them  that  sit  in  darkness 

*  Luke  i.  15-17. 


260  CHKIST    IN   HISTORY. 

and  in  the  shadow  of  death,  to  guide  our  feet 
unto  the  way  of  peace."  * 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  for  John  to  appear  in  the  rude  garb, 
and  with  the  severe  manners,  of  the  ancient 
prophets,  in  order  to  be  recognized  by  the  peo 
ple  as  the  herald  of  the  Messiah.  So,  also,  it 
was  necessary  for  him  to  dwell  much  in  the  wil 
derness,  as  Elijah  did,  for  the  sake  of  fortifying 
his  spirit,  and  preparing  for  his  ministry. 

As  he  advanced  in  years,  he  grew  "  strong  in 
spirit,"  acquiring  clearer  and  profounder  views 
of  his  mission,  and  animated  by  a  constantly 
increasing  zeal  for  its  accomplishment. 

The  precise  time  of  the  commencement  of  his 
ministry  is  uncertain.!  The  word  of  God  came 
to  him  in  the  desert,  and  instantly  he  traversed 
the  mountains  and  valleys  of  Judea,  announcing 
the  baptism  of  repentance,  and  the  remission  of 
sins.  He  took  up  his  position  especially  at 
Bethabara,  one  of  the  passages  of  the  Jordan, 
where  he  baptized  those  who  became  his  disci 
ples,  and  the  disciples,  by  this  means,  of  the  com 
ing  Redeemer.  To  the  questions  which  the 

*  Luke  i.  76-79. 

f  It  was  in  "  the  fifteenth  year  of  Tiberius,  Pontius  Pilate  heing 
governor  of  Judea,"  &c.,  as  we  are  informed  by  Luke,  but  in  what 
season  of  the  year  is  a  matter  of  conjecture.  It  is  supposed,  however, 
to  have  been  in  the  spring  of  the  year.  John  was  then  thirty  years 
of  age,  six  months  older  than  Christ. 


JOHN    Till-;    BAPTIST.  261 

people  addressed  him  respecting  their  future 
course,  he  replied  in  the  most  practical  manner, 
advising  each  class  to  attend  to  their  respective 
duties,  to  amend  their  lives,  and  in  humble  peni 
tence,  to  anticipate  the  speedy  ad  vent  of  the  Holy 
One.*  His  preaching  and  mode  of  procedure, 
are  not  those  of  a  fanatic,  but  of  a  noble,  self- 
denying  reformer.  He  cheers  the  contrite,  di 
rects  the  wayward,  humbles  the  proud,  and 
exhorts  all  to  reform  their  hearts  and  their  lives. 
To  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  whose  haughty 
spirit  and  whose  sham  religion  he  despised,  he 
addresses  the  severest  rebukes  :  "  O  generation 
of  vipers,  who  hath  warned  you  to  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come  ?  Bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  re 
pentance  ;  and  think  not  to  say  within  your 
selves,  We  have  Abraham  for  our  father  ;  for  I 
say  unto  you,  that  God  is  able  of  these  stones 
to  raise  up  children  to  Abraham."  Thus  John 
announced  the  need  of  personal  reform,  and  of 
a  new  spiritual  kingdom  among  men.  His 
views  are  elevated  and  comprehensive.  Unlike 
the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  he  does  not  rely 
upon  outward  forms  and  mere  beliefs,  and  un 
like  the  Essenes,  he  does  not  confine  his  teach 
ing  to  a  class,  or  attempt  to  form  secret  fra 
ternities,  but  to  reform  the  people,  to  benefit  the 
race. 

*  Luke  iii.  11-15. 


262  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

Lustration  by  bathing  in  water  was  long  prac 
tised  before  the  time  of  John,  by  the  Jews,  and, 
indeed,  by  all  the  ancient  nations.  The  perform 
ance,  then,  of  the  baptismal  rite,  as  symbolic  of 
a  new  spiritual  change,  or  a  new  and  divine  faith, 
would  naturally  strike  the  Jews  as  an  assumption 
of  high  ecclesiastical  authority.  This  especially 
affected  all  ranks  of  the  nation,  and  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  Jewish  council,  who  sent  a 
deputation  to  inquire  into  his  claims.  He  dis 
tinctly  acknowledged  that  he  was  not  the  Mes 
siah,  nor  Elijah,  (in  the  sense  they  understood 
it,)  nor  that  old  prophet,  whoever  he  might  be, 
who,  according  to  Jewish  tradition,  was  to  pre 
cede  thfe  coming  of  the  Messiah,  and  perform 
certain  wonderful  actions  in  the  temple  and  else 
where.  "  No,"  said  he  ;  "  I  am  the  voice  of  one 
crying  in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  as  saith  the  prophet  Esaias  ;  "  thus  dis 
claiming  all  personal  supremacy  or  independent 
authority,  especially  disclaiming  all  design  of 
founding  a  peculiar  sect,  or  setting  up  a  new 
system,  yet  clearly  intimating  that  he  was  the 
herald  of  the  Lord,  whose  "  baptism  of  fire  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  that  is,  a  complete  and  divine 
transformation  both  of  the  individual  and  of  the 
church,  was  dimly  typified  by  his  inferior  bap 
tism  in  the  waters  of  the  Jordan. 

What  a  beautiful  and  touching  proof  of  the 


JOHN    THE    BAPTIST.  263 

profound  humility  and  self-abnegation  of  this 
greatest  of  the  prophets  !  No,  he  was  not  the 
Messiah  ;  indeed,  he  was  not  worthy,  as  he  tells 
us,  to  stoop  down  and  unloose  the  sandals  of 
that  divine  Messenger  ;  he  would  claim  nothing 
for  himself;  for,  in  his  own  esteem,  he  was  nothing 
separate  from  Christ.  "  /  am  only  a  voice,"  said 
he,  "  an  echo  in  the  wilderness,  proclaiming  the 
coming  of  the  kingdom."  He  would  stand 
back,  sink  out  of  sight,  for  the  Son  of  God  was 
at  hand. 

While  John  was  thus  engaged  preaching  the 
kingdom,  and  attracting  crowds  of  followers, 
Jesus  himself  appeared,  and  asked  baptism  at 
his  hand.  With  respect  and  astonishment,  John 
hesitated  ;  for  he  probably  knew  him  as  one  far 
his  superior  in  sanctity  and  worth.  Struck,  too, 
with  his  appearance  of  dignity,  and  perhaps 
inwardly  suspecting  that  he  was  the  promised 
Messiah,  though  not  yet  "officially  certified  of 
the  fact,"  as  he  himself  informs  us,  John,  who 
uniformly  evinced  the  deepest  humility,  declined 
the  service,  saying,  "  I  have  need  to  be  baptized 
of  thec  ;  and  comest  thou  to  me  ?  "  But,  yield 
ing  to.  the  authority  of  Jesus,  who  replied,  "  Suf 
fer  it  to  be  so  now ;  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to 
fulfil  all  righteousness,"  —  perform  every  duty,  or, 
as  George  Campbell  translates  it,  "  ratify  every 
institution,"  —  he  went  down  with  him  into  the 


264  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

water,  and  administered  the  sacred  rite.  It  had 
previously  been  announced  to  John,  that  the  sign 
of  the  Messiah  should  be  the  descent  upon  him 
of  the  Spirit  from  heaven,  in  some  special  or 
symbolic  form,  at  his  baptism.  As  Jesus  then 
ascended,  a  luminous  appearance,  in  the  form 
or  with  the  undulating  motion  of  a  dove,*  (in  all 
ages  the  symbol  of  purity  and  gentleness,  and, 
in  this  instance,  of  the  Holy  Spirit,)  descended 
upon  the  head  of  Jesus,  and  a  voice  was  heard 
from  heaven,  recognizing  him  as  the  Son  of  God, 
well  pleasing  to  the  Father,  and  his  accredited 
Messenger  to  the  world.  It  was  at  this  point 
that  John  knew,  for  certainty,  that  Jesus  was  the 
promised  Messiah ;  and  from  that  hour  he  com 
mended  him  to  the  people  as  "  the  Lamb  of 
God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world." 
"  For,  although  the  Baptist  had  a  glimpse  of 
him,"  says  Jeremy  Taylor,  "  by  the  first  irradia 
tions  of  the  Spirit,  yet  John  professed  that  he 
therefore  came  baptizing  with  water,  that  '  Jesus 
might  be  manifested  to  Israel ; '  and  it  was  also  a 
sign  given  to  the  Baptist  himself,  that  '  on  whom 
soever  he  saw  the  Spirit  descending  and  remain 
ing,'  he  is  the  person  '  that  baptizeth  with  the 
Holy  Ghost.'  And  God  chose  to  actuate  the 
sign  at  the  waters  of  Jordan,  in  great  and  reli 
gious  assemblies,  convened  there  at  John's  bap- 

*   fLml  TTintaTtpai,  Matt.  iii.  16.      Ev  ffco^arncw  t"<5n,  Luke  Hi.  22. 


JOHN    THE    BAPTIST.  265 

tism  ;  and,  therefore,  Jesus  came  to  be  baptized, 
and,  by  this  baptism,  became  known  to  John, 
who,  as  before  he  gave  to  him  an  indiscriminate 
testimony,  so  now  he  pointed  out  the  person  in 
his  sermons  and  discourses,  and  by  calling  him 
'the  Lamb  of  God,'  prophesied  of  his  passion, 
and  preached  him  to  be  the  world's  Redeemer 
and  the  sacrifice  for  mankind."  * 

After  his  baptism,  Jesus,  it  would  seem,  min 
gled  with  the  crowd,  or  retired  from  the  scene. 
John,  doubtless,  in  private,  announced  to  his 
own  immediate  disciples  the  appearance  of  the 
Messiah. 

The  next  day,  John  seeth  Jesus  coming  unto 
him,  and  saith,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God, 
which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  This 
is  he  of  whom  I  said,  After  me  cometh  a  man 
which  is  preferred  before  ine,"  &c.  "  This  is  the 
Son  of  God."  Again :  on  the  day  following, 
John  stood  and  two  of  his  disciples  ;  and  look 
ing  upon  Jesus  as  he  walked,  he  saith,  "  Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God  !  "  Thus  John  introduced  the 
Messiah  to  his  disciples,  in  consequence  of  which, 
several  of  them,  immediately,  or  soon  after,  de 
voted  themselves,  doubtless  in  accordance  with 
John's  wishes,  to  the  service  of  Christ.  They 
were  prepared  to  follow  him,  as  the  Son  of  God, 
the  Redeemer  of  Israel.  Among  these  were 

*  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  184,  English  edition. 

23 


266  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

Andrew,  Simon,  Philip  and  Nathan ael,  the  latter 
of  whom,  receiving  a  convincing  proof  of  the 
amazing  knowledge  of  Jesus,  exclaimed,  "  Rabbi, 
thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  thou  art  the  King  of 
Israel." 

The  testimonies  cited  from  John  the  Baptist 
are  important,  as  indicating  his  views  of  the  char 
acter  and  mission  of  Christ.  They  prove  that 
he  regarded  him  as  a  spiritual  and  divine  Re 
deemer,  "  the  Son  of  God "  by  preeminence, 
"a  name  above  every  name,"  as  St.  Paul  affirms  ; 
and  not  only  so,  but  that  he  regarded  his  mes 
sage  as  one  not  formal  and  local,  or  simply  Jew 
ish,  but  moral  and  universal.  He  designates 
him  the  Lamb  of  God,  reminding  us  of  the 
paschal  lamb,  the  means  of  redemption  to  Israel 
in  that  terrible  night  when  the  angel  of  destruc 
tion  passed  ov»r  their  houses,  on  which  the  blood 
of  the  paschal  lamb  had  been  sprinkled,  and  in 
all  subsequent  time  offered  in  sacrifice,  on  the 
day  of  the  great  annual  passover,  thus  indicat 
ing  the  character  of  Christ  as  a  spiritual  Deliv 
erer,  "  our  paschal  Lamb"  as  he  is  styled  by  the 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  "  the  Lamb  of  God,  who 
taketh  away  the  sin  "  —  not  the  political  degra 
dation  and  bondage,  but  the  sin  of  Israel,  and 
not  of  Israel  only,  but  "  of  the  world"  How 
lofty,  spiritual,  and  comprehensive  are  these 
views  of  John  the  Baptist!  how  much  in 


JOHN    THE    BAPTIST.  267 

harmony  with  those  of  the  ancient  prophets, 
of  Christ  himself,  and  of  the  whole  Christian 
church ! 

John  continued  to  preach  these  great  doctrines 
to  the  people,  and  in  various  places,  in  JBnon, 
near  to  Salem,  for  example,  by  baptism,  to  pre 
pare  disciples  for  the  Master.  When  a  discus 
sion  arose  between  some  of  John's  disciples 
and  those  of  Jesus,  about  purifying,  (perhaps 
the  effect  ascribed  to  baptism,)  the  Baptist  de 
clared  his  inferiority  to  the  great  Messiah,  and 
his  consequent  unwillingness  to  form  a  school  or 
sect  separate  from  his.  He  avowed  his  mission 
to  be  subordinate  and  preparatory.  "  He  must 
increase,  but  I  must  decrease." 

Subsequently  we  find  John  cast  into  prison, 
for  his  stern  fidelity  to  duty,  in  reproving  Herod 
Antipas  (who  greatly  respected  him  as  a  proph 
et)  for  having  Herodias,  his  brother's  wife,  a 
fact  referred  to  by  Josephus.  Here  lingering  in 
confinement,  his  disciples,  come  to  him,  and  ask 
him  about  the  Messiah,  concerning  whom  they 
began,  under  the  circumstances,  to  cherish 
some  doubt.  It  is  not,  indeed,  impossible, 
though  it  would  seem  highly  improbable,  that 
John,  depressed  in  mind,  might  himself  have 
yielded  to  doubt.  But  the  circumstances  seem 
to  forbid  such  a  supposition.  And  hence  we 
conclude  that  the  difficulty  lay  in  the  minds 


268  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

of  his  disciples,  for  whose  satisfaction  he  sent 
them  to  Jesus,  with  the  question,  "  Art  thou  he 
that  should  come,  or  do  we  look  for  another  ?  " 
At  the  moment  they  arrived,  Jesus  was  perform 
ing  some  of  his  wonderful  works.  Instead  of 
answering  them  directly,  he  said,  "  Go  and  show 
John  again  those  things  which  ye  do  hear 
and  see  :  the  blind  receive  their  sight,  and  the 
lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf 
hear,  the  dead  are  raised  up,  and  the  poor  have 
the  gospel  preached  unto  them."*  Then  follows 
our  Savior's  beautiful  testimony  to  John  :  "What 
went  ye  out  into  the  wilderness  for  to  see  ?  A 
reed  shaken  with  the  wind?  But  what  went 
ye  out  for  to  see  ?  A  man  clothed  in  soft  rai 
ment  ?  Behold,  they  that  wear  soft  raiment 
are  in  kings'  palaces  ?  But  what  went  ye  out 
for  to  see  ?  A  prophet  ?  Yea,  I  say  unto  you, 
and  more  than  a  prophet.  For  of  those  that  are 
born  of  women,  there  hath  not  risen  a  greater 
than  John  the  Baptist."  "  Nevertheless,"  he  add 
ed,  referring  probably  to  the  case  of  a  disciple  made 
perfect  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  glorified  in  body 
and  in  spirit,  "  he  that  is  least  in  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  greater  than  he  "  —  thus  resolving 
all  greatness  into  purity  and  love.f  There  could 

*  Matt.  xi.  3-G. 

f  Perhaps,  however,  the  reference  here  is  to  a  disciple  in  the 
kingdom  or  church  of  God,  fully  established  on  earth,  subsequent 


JOHN    THE   BAPTIST.  269 

be  no  diversity  of  opinion  and  purpose,  then, 
between  Christ  and  John  ;  both  fully  under 
stood  that  the  deeper  radiance  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  swallows  up  and  absorbs  all  lesser 
lights.  The  one  as  the  Sun  of  Righteousness, 
the  other  as  the  star  which  heralds  his  coming, 
advance,  joyously,  into  the  unobstructed  efful 
gence  of  the  eternal  kingdom. 

At  length,  John  disappears  from  the  scene. 
He  was  beheaded  at  the  instance  of  Herodias, 
and  thus  entered  glory,  by  a  quick,  though 
bloody  passage.  His  work  was  done ;  Jesus 
alone  must  appear  on  the  scene,  and  occupy  the 
entire  field  of  vison.* 

to  the  descent  of  the  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  so  possess 
ing  higher  views  and  enjoying  greater  privileges  than  John.  Though 
elevated,  we  are  not  to  suppose  the  views  of  John  to  be  as  perfect, 
or  as  clearly  defined,  as  those  of  the  early  Christians,  who  lived  after 
the  permanent  establishment  of  the  church.  See  Olshausen  in  loco. 
*  Some  of  John's  disciples  did  not  carry  out  the  spirit  of  their 
master,  but  forming  a  peculiar  sect,  lapsed  into  narrow  Jewish 
prejudices,  and  carnal  usages.  Hence  the  Ebiontes. 

23* 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    MYTHIC  THEORY. 

WE  have  dwelt  the  longer,  in  the  preceding 
chapters,  on  the  preparation  of  Christ  for  his 
public  ministry,  as  well  as  on  the  character  and 
mission  of  John  the  Baptist,  because  they  sup 
ply  the  materials  for  a  refutation  of  one  of  the 
most  plausible  and  ingeniously  supported  theo 
ries  of  modern  scepticism — to  account,  on  natural 
grounds,  for  the  life  and  character  of  Jesus,  as 
the  acknowledged  Messiah.  We  refer  to  the 
hypothesis  of  Strauss,  developed  in  his  Life  of 
Jesus,  and  adopted  in  its  fundamental  features 
by  the  great  body  of  sceptics  in  Europe  and  in 
this  country,  among  whom  we  may  name  Theo 
dore  Parker,  who  has  reproduced  it  for  the  benefit 
of  American  readers.  We  have  already  alluded 
to  this  theory,  but  we  wish  to  take  some  further 
notice  of  it,  as  it  is  confessedly  the  boldest  yet 
proposed,  to  account  for  a  life,  which  Rousseau 
himself  was  compelled  to  consider  a  miracle. 

It  is  based,  we  may  premise,  upon  a  funda 
mental  denial  of  the  possibility  of  miracles  —  a 
prodigious  assumption,  as  most  persons  will 

270) 


TFi:-    MYTttIC    THEORY.  271 

regard  it,  yet  a  perfectly  natural  one  to  Strauss, 
who,  philosophically,  is  a  pupil  of  the  pantheis 
tic  school,  and,  therefore,  positively  denies  the 
existence  of  a  personal  God.  Nature  and  God, 
in  his  theory,  are  confounded.  He  knows  no 
God  but  "  the  Absolute  Essence,  which  comes 
to  consciousness  in  man."  Nature,  or  the  exter 
nal  universe,  is  but  the  necessary  and  eternal 
manifestation  of  the  divine.  All,  indeed,  is 
divine,  as  man  is  divine,  and  in  its  essence 
changeless  and  eternal.  What  we  call  change, 
or  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect,  according  to 
this  theory,  is  but  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  uncre 
ated  being,  who  reveals  himself  in  nature  and  in 
man.  Under  such  a  system,  the  idea  of  new 
beginnings  or  creations,  whether  in  the  natural 
or  the  spiritual  worlds,  of  special  interventions 
and  revelations,  as  ordinarily  understood,  and, 
above  all,  of  miracles  and  incarnations,  is  inad 
missible.  Such  divine  interpositions,  beyond  the 
sphere  of  natural  or  ordinary  causes,  Strauss 
pronounces  impossible.* 

Keeping  this  in  mind,  we  present  the  follow 
ing,  as  a  fair  statement  of  the  substance  of  his 
theory : — 


*  It  is  on  this  ground  that  Neander  designates  the  controversy 
commenced  by  Strauss  as  "  a  struggle  between  Christian  Theism 
and  a  system  of  world  and  self  deification.  —  Preface  to  his  Leben 
Jesu. 


272  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

"  All  that  is  miraculous  in  the  life  of  Christ, 
as  given  in  the  gospel,  and  recognized  by  the 
church,  is  mythical ;  that  is,  it  is  the  natural  ex 
aggeration  of  a  credulous  and  superstitious  age, 
anxious  to  exalt  its  heroes  into  divinities.  There 
was  such  a  man,  such  a  teacher  and  reformer,  as 
Jesus,  the  principal  natural  events  of  whose  life 
are  probably  real  historical  facts ;  but  all  else, 
all  especially  that  is  supernatural,  his  birth  from 
a  pure  virgin,  the  song  of  the  angels,  the  star  in 
the  East,  the  miracles,  the  resurrection,  the  ascen 
sion,  &c.,  are  legendary  or  fictitious.  He  was 
a  native  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph  and 
Mary.  Some  exhibition  of  uncommon  intelli 
gence  may  have  given  rise  to  the  story  of  his 
sojourn  in  the  temple,  when  twelve  years  old, 
though  this  is  doubtful.  He  probably  had  some 
instructions  from  the  Essenes  or  from  the  Jewish 
Rabbins,  and  intelligent  persons  whom  he  met  at 
the  feasts  at  Jerusalem.  At  about  thirty  years  of 
age,  he  became  a  follower  of  John  the  Baptist, 
who  appears  to  have  belonged  to  the  sect  of  the 
Essenes,  and  to  have  proclaimed  the  popular 
idea,  very  natural  among  an  oppressed  people, 
that  the  great  national  deliverer  was  at  hand. 
Jesus  probably  remained  a  follower  of  John  the 
Baptist  much  longer  than  the  partiality  of  tra 
dition  would  allow  us  to  believe.  At  length  he 

o 

began  to  preach,  at  first  the  same  doctrine  with 


THE    MYTHIC    THEORY.  273 

John  the  Baptist,  that  the  Messiah  was  about  to 
appear.  Gradually  becoming  conscious  of  his 
extraordinary  power,  the  idea  occurred  to  him 
that  he  was  destined  to  fill  that  office.  His  con 
ception  of  the  Messiahship,  at  first  probably 
similar  to  that  entertained  by  the  Jewish  people, 
rose  with  his  increasing  experience,  until,  apply 
ing  to  himself  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testa 
ment,  which  speak  of  the  Messiah  as  suffering, 
he  was  convinced  that  a  violent  death,  which 
the  malice  of  his  enemies  rendered  probable, 
was  a  part  of  his  mission.  Having  exercised 
the  mission  of  a  teacher  and  reformer  of  morals, 
he  was  at  length  put  to  death.  He  did  not  rise 
again,  but  the  excited  imagination  of  his  follow 
ers  presented  his  form  in  visions  ;  a  report  spread 
of  his  resurrection,  which  was  believed  among 
his  followers,  and  contributed  chiefly  to  the  suc 
cess  of  his  religion." 

On  this  ground,  Strauss  and  his  followers 
ascribe  no  fraudulent  designs  either  to  Christ  or 
his  disciples.  The  whole  conception  of  his 
Messianic  character  is  attributed  to  the  force  of 
imagination.  The  myth,  based  upon  a  few  frag 
mentary  natural  facts,  grew,  so  to  speak,  by  ac 
cretion,  so  that  the  church  did  not  receive,  but 
gave  itself  a  divine  Messiah.  The  followers  of 
Christ,  then,  are  in  no  sense  impostors,  but  simply 
enthusiasts,  who,  finding  certain  things  predicted 


274  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

of  the  Messiah  in  the  ancient  prophets,  imagined 
that  they  must  have  happened,  as  matters  of 
fact,  in  connection  with  the  life  of  Jesus. 

It  hence  follows,  that  the  Christian  records 
were  the  gradually  accumulated  result  of  tra 
ditions,  hearsays,  and  imaginings ;  and  thence, 
that  they  contain  a  few  grains  of  truth  amid  a 
vast  accumulation  of  legendary  fiction. 

This  theory,  apparently  ingenious  as  an  hy 
pothesis,  and  supported  by  minute  and  laborious 
learning,  is  contradicted  by  the  facts  in  the  case. 
At  the  best,  it  is  a  mere  hypothesis.  Its  basis 
is  gratuitous.  Its  main  positions  are  simple 
historical  guesses.  Nay,  its  truth  would  seem 
to  be  impossible  in  the  nature  of  things.  On 
such  a  supposition  the  gospel  is  a  production 
without  a  producer,  an  effect  without  a  cause. 

It  is  inconceivable,  for  example,  either  that  the 
apostles,  or  Christ  himself,  with  his  vast  intellect 
and  serene  affections,  could  have  thus  imposed 
upon  themselves.  His  relations  to  John  the 
Baptist,  with  the  teachings  and  aims  of  both, 
are  inconsistent  with  the  supposition. 

How,  moreover,  could  the  apostles,  with  their 
peculiar  views  and  prejudices,  spontaneously  form 
and  develop  the  idea  of  Christ's  peculiar  char 
acter  and  life,  so  far  transcending  any  thing  which 
had  ever  dawned  upon  their  minds  —  so  far,  in 
deed,  transcending  the  whole  spirit  of  the  Jewish 


THE    MYTHIC    THEORY.  275 

people?  But,  even  supposing  that  they  could 
have  originated  and  sustained  the  idea,  it  is 
incredible  that  they  should  have  persuaded 
themselves  that  it  was  actually  realized  in  Jesus 
of  Nazareth.  Were  such  the  case,  we  must 
conclude  not  only  that  their  intellects,  but  that 
their  senses,  were  deceived.  The  events  to  which 
they  testify,  in  the  most  natural  and  deliberate 
way,  are  of  the  most  striking  and  stupendous 
character.  They  happened,  also,  according  to 
their  own  accounts,  beyond  their  expectations, 
and  often  in  opposition  to  their  washes.  How 
is  it  credible,  then,  that  they  could  have  been 
deceived  as  to  their  occurrence  ?  Would  it  be 
likely,  for  example,  that  sane  men  would  imagine 
that  they  had  witnessed  the  great  events  of  the 
American  revolution  —  the  declaration  of  indepen 
dence —  the  battles  of  Lexington  and  Bunker's 
Hill  —  the  crossing  of  the  Delaware  —  the  surren 
der  of  Burgoyne  —  the  inauguration  of  the  first 
president  —  if  they  had  never  witnessed  them, 
above  all,  if  these  events  had  never  occurred  ? 
Even  supposing  them  superstitious  and  credulous 
—  nay,  more,  looking  for  an  American  Messiah  — 
could  they  be  made  to  believe  that  they  had  found 
such  in  the  illustrious  Washington  ?  that  they  had 
seen  him  perform  the  most  stupendous  miracles  ? 
that,  after  his  death,  he  had  risen  from  the  grave, 
and  held  many  conversations  with  them  ?  and, 


276  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

finally,  at  the  end  of  forty  days,  had  ascended, 
in  their  sight,  to  heaven  ?  Above  all,  could  any 
man  with  the  calm  intellect,  sound  heart,  and 
generous  nature  of  Washington,  even  if  a"  reli 
gious  enthusiast,  be  made  to  imagine  himself  the 
Son  of  God  —  a  special  divine  messenger,  who, 
possessing  supernatural  powers,  and  performing 
divine  miracles,  was  first  to  die  and  then  to 
rise  again  from  the  dead  —  and  thus  become 
the  founder  of  a  new  religion?  After  having 
predicted  his  own  death  by  violence,  and  his 
resurrection  on  the  third  day,  is  it  likely  that 
such  a  death,  and,  above  all,  such  an  imaginary 
resurrection,  should  become  the  basis  of  a  great 
religious  system,  the  most  beautiful  and  compre 
hensive  the  world  has  ever  seen  ? 

After  his  death,  "  a  report,"  says  Strauss, 
"  spread  of  his  resurrection."  Is  Christianity 
founded  upon  a  report  ?  To  say  nothing  of  our 
Savior  here,  how  could  his  apostles,  who  ever 
bore  a  decisive  and  uniform  testimony  to  his 
miracles,  especially  the  miracle  of  the  resurrec 
tion,  as  the  foundation  of  their  faith,  and  that, 
too,  immediately  after  the  supposed  occurrence 
of  the  events,  have  done  so,  if  such  events  had 
never  happened?  By  what  strange  device  could 
they  make  themselves  believe  that  these  great 
and  startling  phenomena  actually  happened 
under  their  eyes?  They  testify  not  to  opinions 


THE   MYTHIC    THEORY.  277 

or  notions,  but  to  facts — facts  never  contradicted 
by  their  enemies  —  facts  for  which  they  were 
willing  to  lay  down  their  lives. 

Moreover,  if  the  Gospels  were  a  mere  collection 
of  traditions,  hearsays,  and  notions,  growing 
spontaneously  from  the  spirit  of  the  age,  or  the 
spirit  of  a  self-constituted  sect,  based  upon  some 
natural  facts,  as  Strauss  supposes,  they  would  em 
body  all  the  prejudices  of  the  times,  and  give  us 
a  Messiah  corresponding  to  the  crude  and  fanat 
ical  views  prevalent  in  such  an  age,  and  among 
such  a  sect.  The  character  of  a  Messiah,  so 
conceived,  could  not  be  coherent  or  symmetrical, 
but  one-sided  and  fragmentary.  Rude  peasants 
would  not  be  likely,  by  spontaneous  effort,  to 
compose  a  Miltonic  epic,  or  construct  the  dome 
of  St.  Peter's.  One  would  say,  such  a  thing  is 
impossible.  How  then  could  an  ignorant  sect 
of  Jewish  enthusiasts,  long  after  the  times  of  the 
actual  Jesus,  for  that  is  the  real  supposition  of 
Strauss,  construct,  out  of  the  simple  traditionary 
relics  of  his  career,  the  grand  and  beautiful  edifice 
of  his  Messianic  character  and  life  ? 

The  Gospels,  we  may  say,  are  the  basis  of 
Christendom.  They  are  the  fruitful  germs  of  all 
that  is  elevated  and  comprehensive  in  the  morals 
and  civilization  of  our  modern  world.  They  have 
accomplished  the  greatest,  the  most  beneficial 
revolution  in  the  history  of  man.  They  reveal 
24 


278  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

the  spiritual  and  paternal  character  of  God,  and 
the  true  and  equal  brotherhood  of  man.  Simple 
they  are,  but  of  wondrous  power  and  beauty. 
Their  teachings  not  only  transcend  the  age  in 
which  they  appeared,  but  all  ages  —  they  yet 
transcend  ours.  They  are  far  in  advance  of  our 
meagre  policies  and  imperfect  virtue.  Their  light, 
even  now,  streams  far  into  the  future,  revealing 
a  brighter  and  holier  age  to  come,  in  which  love 
to  God  and  love  to  man  shall  be  the  reigning 
impulse. 

In  these  wonderful  compositions,  the  life  of  a 
perfect  being,  at  once  human  and  divine,  is  car 
ried  successfully,  and  with  singular  dramatic 
power,  through  the  most  exciting  and  tragic 
scenes,  to  its  sublime  and  triumphant  close.  The 
genius  of  ^Eschylus  or  of  Shakspeare  is  brought 
out,  especially  in  death  scenes  ;  but  what  death 
scene,  real  or  fictitious,  will  compare  with  that 
of  Christ  ?  What  great  historian  or  tragic  poet, 
in  his  loftiest  flights,  has  reached  an  elevation 
making  the  slightest  approach  to  this?  Ah, 
well  might  Rousseau  say,  "  If  Socrates  died  like 
a  philosopher,  Jesus  died  like  a  God!" 

It  is  incredible  that  the  writers,  some  of  them 
eye  witnesses  of  the  events  which  they  narrate,' 
with  their  natural  and  minute  statements  of  facts, 
written  each  from  his  own  peculiar  stand-point, 
and  without  reference  to  tho  others,  should  have 


THE    MYTHIC    THEORY.  279 

cheated  themselves  by  the  mere  force  of  imagi 
nation.  They  state  only  what  two  of  them  at 
least  heard,  and  saw,  and  felt,  and  the  others 
knew  to  be  true,  from  the  testimony  of  compe 
tent  witnesses,  as  they  themselves,  over  and  over 
again,  affirm. 

Take,  for  example,  the  Gospel  according  to 
John,  which  Strauss,  Bauer,  and  others  have 
made  such  fruitless  efforts  to  set  aside.  Its  gen 
uineness  has  been  triumphantly  vindicated.*  In 
deed,  we  are  justified  in  saying  that  it  is  as 
certainly  the  composition  of  John  as  the  Life 
of  Agricola  is  that  of  Tacitus.  Well,  then,  could 
John,  with  his  pure  character  and  clear  intellect, 
persuade  himself,  by  the  mere  force  of  imagina 
tion,  that  he  had  witnessed  miracles  which  he 
had  never  witnessed;  especially  could  he  per 
suade  himself  that  he  had  seen  the  empty  sepul 
chre  of  Christ,  then  Christ  himself,  subsequent 
to  his  resurrection  ;  that  he  had  conversed  with 
him  in  open  day,  had  walked  with  him  towards 
Bethany,  and  seen  him  ascend  into  heaven,  if 
these  things  had  never  happened  ?  Would  it  be 
possible  for  him  to  invent,  not  fraudulently,  but 


*  See  Tholuck  on  John,  Olshausen  on  the  Genuineness  of  the 
Gospels,  as  also  Norton  on  the  Genuineness  of  the  Gospels,  partic 
ularly  the  first  volume  of  that  able  and  elaborate  work ;  sec  also 
Bunscn's  Hijqwhjtus,  in  which  the  theory  of  the  Tabingen  school 
vs  refuted,  vol.  i.  pp.  40,  41,  87,  88,  and  vol.  iv.  pp.  105,  106. 


280  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

through  the  mere  force  of  fancy,  the  entire  Mes 
sianic  character,  and  ascribe  it  to  one  with  whom 
he  had  associated  during  the  whole  of  his  public 
ministry,  and  must  have  known  to  be  a  mere 
natural  man  like  himself?  Credat  Judceus* 

Again  :  a  myth  and  mythic  writings,  such  as 
are  supposed  by  Strauss,  take  a  long  time  for 
their  formation.  Religions  do  not  originate  in 
myths.  These  are  the  growth  of  a  subsequent 
age.  Even  supposing  it  possible,  a  century  or 
two,  at  least,  would  be  needed  for  the  natural 
growth  of  such  a  system  as  Christianity,  and 
the  production  of  such  writings  as  the  Gospels 
and  Epistles.  But  Strauss  himself  does  not 
take  the  ground  that  they  originated  beyond  the 
latter  part  of  the  first  century,  or  during  the  first 
forty  or  fifty  years  after  the  death  of  Christ. 
For  which  reason,  we  once  more  affirm  that  their 
production,  within  that  time,  as  myths  or  legends, 
cannot  be  conceived;  for  the  actors  in  the 
scenes  referred  to,  as  well  as  their  contempora 
ries,  many  of  them  interested  and  bitter  enemies, 
were  alive  to  prevent  it. 

Further  :  the  testimony  in  favor  of  Christianity, 
as  a  supernatural,  yet  historical  manifestation,  is 
all  on  one  side;  there  is  actually  no  counter 


*  The  same  reasoning  will  apply,  of  course,  to  Matthew,  and  in 
deed  to  all  the  primitive  Christian  witnesses. 


THE    MYTHIC    THEORY.  281 

testimony.  If  such  had  existed,  it  would  have 
been  produced.  The  next  age  at  least  would 
have  produced  it.  Celsus,  Julian,  Porphyry,  the 
Jewish  and  heathen  adversaries  of  Christianity, 
would  have  urged  it.  But  all  are  silent.  Hence 
Strauss  has  drawn  upon  his  imagination,  rather 
than  his  learning,  in  denying  the  genuineness  of 
the  Gospels,  and  ascribing  a  mythic  character  to 
Christianity.  The  legend,  if  any,  is  in  his  own 
brain,  the  myth  is  woven  from  the  tissues  of  his 
own  fancy. 

So  much  is  this  the  case,  that  among  the  truly 
learned  in  his  own  country,  Germany,  the  mythic 
theory  is  regarded  as  an  exploded  error. 

The  fact  is,  in  the  life  of  Christ,  as  the  merest 
tyro  must  see,  the  supernatural  or  divine  is  so 
blended  with  the  natural  or  human,  that  they 
cannot  be  separated,  without  destroying  both. 
Nay,  the  supernatural  or  divine  greatly  predomi 
nates  ;  it  is  not  simply  the  coloring,  but  the  sub 
stance  of  the  whole.  So  that  if  you  strike  out 
that,  you  leave  nothing.  The  suri  has  vanished 
from  the  heavens.  Strauss,  indeed,  pretends  to 
leave  a  wonderful  teacher  and  reformer,  perhaps 
a  great  philosopher,  but  only  in  his  own  imagi 
nation  ;  for  all  the  wonderful  in  his  history  has 
vanished,  and  the  teacher,  whoever  or  whatever 
he  may  be,  is  not  the  Messiah  —  is  not,  in  fact, 
the  historical  character,  acknowledged  as  the 
24* 


282  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

founder  of  Christianity.  When  the  foundation 
fails,  the  superstructure  must  fall. 

It  is  the  supernatural  which  forms  the  origin 
and  basis  of  the  Christian  church.  Without  this, 
its  existence  as  an  historical  fact  would  be  an  ef 
fect  without  a  cause.  But  the  Messiah,  so  tran- 
scendant  and  wonderful,  even  as  a  conception,  — 
a  conception,  for  which,  says  an  eminent  Ger 
man  writer,  one  might  consent  to  be  branded  and 
broken  on  the  wheel,  —  is  not  the  product  of  the 
church  ;  the  church  is  the  product  of  the  Mes 
siah.  To  say  that  the  church  has  given  itself  a 
Savior,  as  Strauss  maintains,  is  to  invert  the 
pyramid,  is  to  make  the  river  run  backwards.  It 
would  be  a  greater  miracle  than  the  one  sup 
posed  ;  nay,  rather,  it  would  be  an  absolute 
monstrosity.  We  can  easily  understand  how 
light  illumines  darkness,  but  how  darkness  gen 
erates  light  is  beyond  our  comprehension.  The 
primitive  church  of  the  New  Testament,  with 
its  lofty  conceptions  of  God  and  immortality,  its 
simple  institutions,  its  pure  morals,  and,  above 
all,  its  divine  life,  so  superior  to  all  Jewish,  to 
all  Greek  and  Roman  ideas,  can  be  traced  only 
to  Christ,  and  through  Christ  to  God.  The 
fountain  generates  the  stream,  not  the  stream 
the  fountain. 

Every  religion  fully  represents  its  founder. 
His  image  is  mirrored  there.  It  is  thus  with 


THE    MYTHIC    THEORY.  283 

Islamisra.  Mohammed  is  its  inspiring  genius. 
You  see  nothing  more,  nothing  less  than  Mo 
hammed.  It  rises^no  higher,  falls  no  lower  than 
the  prophet.  It  is  human  as  he  is  human.  His 
knowledge,  his  genius,  his  enthusiasm,  his  mor 
als,  his  aims,  such  as  they  were,  all  are  mirrored 
here.  Hence  every  one  sees  at  a  glance  what 
he  was,  from  what  it  is ;  and  the  result  is  an  in 
delible  conviction  that  it  is  good  in  some  re 
spects,  but  still  human,  and  not  divine.  So  also 
in  Christianity  we  see  Christ.  His  life,  his  death 
and  resurrection,  above  all,  his  divine  or  super 
natural  character,  majestic  and  beautiful  as  the 
Godhead,  all  are  here  as  in  a  mirror.  God  is 
love  —  Christ  is  love,  infinite  and  immortal. 
We  behold  "in  this  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord." 
And  the  result  is,  in  all  those  capable  of  appreci 
ating  it,  an  indelible  conviction  that  it  is  divine, 
as  he  is  divine.  In  fine,  Christianity  does  not 
project  Christ  as  its  image  or  reflection,  but  Christ 
projects  Christianity.  He  is  its  cause  and  ori 
gin,  its  animating  spirit  and  life.  If,  then,  Chris 
tianity  is  a  reality,  Christ  is  a  reality.  It  is  the 
one  day  which  flows  from  the  one  sun. 

The  apostles  themselves,  the  writers  of  the 
Gospels,  the  first  Christians,  the  early  martyrs 
are  the  product  of  Christ.  Their  existence,  their 
heroic  lives,  their  triumphant  deaths  are  impos 
sible  without  him.  The  Christian  records  are  but 


284  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

his  echo,  and  whether  absolutely  or  only  relatively 
perfect,  they  are  authentic  and  true.  One  might 
admit  even  their  fragmentarj^character,  and  yet 
maintain  their  integrity.  Christ  is  mirrored  in 
them,  as  the  serene  heavens  are  mirrored  in  the 
sea.  And  what,  we  ask,  is  seen  in  Christ  him 
self?  All  the  fulness,  all  the  love  and  pity  of 
the  Godhead. 

One  might  as  well  tell  us  that  the  sun  and 
stars  do  not  shine  in  the  heavens,  as  tell  us  that 
Christianity  is  a  myth,  and  the  Bible  a  legend. 
The  owl-like  spirit  of  infidelity  may  flap  its 
boding  wings  under  the  sunlight,  and  cry,  Where 
is  it  ?  But  yonder  in  the  far  depths  is  the  king 
of  day,  and  here  on  earth  we  bask  joyously  in 
his  beams. 

The  author  of  the  mythic  theory,  not  fully 
satisfied  with  it  himself,  has  occupied  the  greater 
portion  of  his  ponderous  work  in  commenting 
upon  the  apparent  discrepancies,  inconsistencies, 
and  contradictions  supposed  to  be  found  in  the 
four  Gospels  ;  but  in  this  department  of  inquiry 
he  has  suggested  nothing  new.  All  may  be  re 
ferred,  without  straining,  to  such  omissions  and 
variations  as  might  naturally  be  expected  in  the 
depositions  of  four  honest,  independent  witnesses. 
Such  variations,  as  Starkie  (on  Evidence)  has  re 
marked,  though  furnishing  the  adverse  counsel 
with  a  copious  subject  of  cavil,  are  perfectly 


TIIE    MYTHIC    THEORY.  285 

consistent  with  substantial  harmony.  Nay,  they 
become  a  collateral  proof  of  integrity ;  for  they 
are  precisely  such  as  must  necessarily  be  found 
in  the  concurrent  testimonies  of  frank  and  com 
petent  witnesses.  Unity  with  variety  is  their 
most  distinguishing  feature.  Even  allowing,  for 
the  sake  of  argument,  the  occurrence  here  of  oc 
casional  slight  mistakes,  in  reference  to  matters 
of  time,  plan,  succession  of  events,  and  other 
details,  the  fundamental  integrity  of  these  writ 
ings  is  not  thereby  impeached.*  They  still  re 
main  on  the  same  platform  of  substantial  au 
thenticity  with  all  other  historical  documents. 
Those,  indeed,  who  claim  their  plenary  inspira 
tion,  will  not,  of  course,  admit  the  possibility  of 
such  mistakes  ;  but  this  is  a  point  which  we  are 
not  discussing  now  ;  nor  does  it  really  enter  into 
the  question  either  of  genuineness  or  authen 
ticity.  All  we  need  now  to  assert  is  the  funda 
mental  historical  verity  of  the  Gospel  narratives, 
so  consistent  and  harmonious,  and  yet  so  natural 
and  free.  They  are  such,  at  least,  as  to  satisfy 
the  keen,  exhaustive  criticism  both  of  a  Neander 
and  a  Niebuhr.f  So  that  we  feel  ourselves  fully 

*  For  a  specific  refutation  of  Strauss's  objections,  sometimes  on 
his  own  grounds,  see  Neander's  Life  of  Christ. 

T  The  critical  and  sceptical  tendencies  of  Niehuhr,  as  well  as  his 
boundless  historical  learning,  are  well  known.  He  stands  at  the 
head  of  all  critical  historical  investigators,  as  Neander  stands  at  the 
head  of  all  ecclesiastical  historians.  After  a  thorough  examination 


286  CIIRIST    IN    IIISTO11Y. 

justified  in  saying  that,  if  the  gospel  history  is 
not  authentic,  there  is  no  authentic  history  in 
the  world. 

We  conclude,  then,  that  the  theory  of  Strauss 
is  the  production  of  his  own  imagination,  based 
upon  false  assumptions  and  erroneous  state 
ments,  inconsistent  with  historical  verity,  incon 
sistent  especially  with  the  genius  of  Christian 
ity,  and  only  plausible  on  the  hypothesis  that 
there  is  no  God,  or  that  man  is  his  own  God. 
It  denies  the  possibility  of  the  supernatural,  the 
possibility  of  an  historical  Christianity,  nay,  the 
very  possibility  of  a  personal  God,  that  is,  of  an 

of  the  Christian  records,  at  a  time  when  his  rationalistic  doubts 
were  stronger  than  at  a  subsequent  period,  he  says,  notwithstanding 
his  admission  of  the  fragmentary  and  even  imperfect  character  of 
the  Gospels,  "But  here,  as  in  every  historical  subject,  when  I  con 
templated  the  immeasurable  gulf  between  the  narrative  and  the 
facts  narrated,  this  disturbed  me  no  further.  He  whose  earthly 
life  and  sorrows  were  depicted,  had  for  me  a  perfectly  real  existence, 
and  his  whole  history  had  the  same  reality,  even  if  it  were  not  re 
lated  with  literal  exactness  in  any  single  point.  Hence,  also,  the 
fundamental  fact  of  miracles,  which,  according  to  my  conviction, 
must  be  conceded,  unless  we  adopt  the  not  merely  incomprehensi 
ble,  but  absurd  hypothesis,  that  the  Holiest  was  a  deceiver,  and  his 
disciples  either  dupes  or  liars,  and  that  deceivers  had  preached  a  holy 
religion,  in  which  self-renunciation  is  every  thing,  and  in  which  there 
is  nothing  tending  towards  the  erection  of  a  priestly  rule,  nothing 
that  can  be  acceptable  to  vicious  inclinations.  As  regards  a  miracle, 
in  the  strictest  sense,  it  really  only  requires  an  unprejudiced  and 
penetrating  study  of  nature  to  see  that  those  related  are  as  far  as 
possible  from  absurdity,  and  a  comparison  with  legends,  or  the  pre 
tended  miracles  of  other  religions,  to  perceive  by  what  a  different 


THE    MYTHIC    THEORY.  287 

actual  divine  Intelligence,  who  may  interest 
himself  in  man,  and  who,  in  the  plenitude  of 
his  love,  may  come  to  us  as  an  incarnation,  and 
reunite  us  to  himself. 

As  we  proceed  with  our  inquiries,  we  shall 
find  constantly  accumulating  evidence  of  the 
absurdity  of  the  mythic  theory.  The  more  we 
investigate  the  life  of  Christ,  and  the  history 
thence  resulting,  the  more  we  shall  be  satisfied 
of  his  supernatural  character  and  mission. 

It  will  not  be  necessary,  however,  to  enter  into 
any  formal  details  in  reference  to  the  public  min 
istry  of  Christ,  and  especially  the  closing  scenes 

spirit  they  are  animated."  —  Life  and  Letters,  i.  pp.  339,  340.  At 
a  later  period  of  his  life,  when  his  views  were  more  mature,  he  gives 
us  the  following,  as  reported  by  Neander,  (Life  of  Jesus,)  who  hailed 
them  as  "golden  words  from  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  modern 
times."  "  In  my  opinion,"  says  he,  "he  is  not  a  Protestant  Chris 
tian  who  does  not  receive  the  historical  facts  of  Christ's  earthly  life 
in  their  literal  acceptation,  with  all  its  miracles,  as  equally  authentic 
with  any  event  recorded  in  history,  and  whose  belief  in  them  is  not 
as  firm  and  tranquil  as  his  belief  in  the  latter  ;  who  has  not  the  most 
absolute  faith  in  the  articles  of  the  Apostles'  creed,  taken  in  their 
grammatical  sense,  who  does  not  consider  every  doctrine  and  every 
precept  of  the  New  Testament  as  undoubted  divine  revelation,  in 
the  sense  of  the  Christians  of  the  first  century,  who  knew  nothing 
of  a  theopheustia.  Moreover,  a  Christianity  after  the  fashion  of  the 
modern  philosophers  and  pantheists,  without  a  personal  God,  with-- 
out  an  immortality,  without  human  individuality,  without  historical 
faith,  is  no  Christianity  at  all  to  me,  though  it  may  be  intellectual, 
very  ingenious  philosophy.  I  have  often  said  that  I  don't  know 
what  to  do  with  a  metaphysical  God,  and  that  I  will  have  none  but 
the  God  of  the  Bible,  who  is  heart  to  heart  with  us." 


288  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

of  his  wonderful  career,  as  these  are  presumed 
to  be  familiar  to  our  readers.  We  shall  group 
all  we  have  to  say,  in  reference  to  the  whole, 
under  two  heads,  namely  his  Teaching  and 
Miracles. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

TEACHING. 

IF  it  be  atheism  to  exclude  God  from  the  realm 
of  matter,  it  is  equally  atheism  to  exclude  him 
from  the  realm  of  mind.  As  a  supreme  and 
universal  Spirit,  which  the  Scriptures  teach  him 
to  be,  he  is  "all  and  in  all."  The  "Father  of 
light,"  he  is  also  the  "  Father  of  spirits,"  from 
whom  "  cometh  every  good  and  every  perfect 
gift."  Man,  indeed,  is  endowed  with  reason 
and  will,  and  thence  has  the  power  of  choice,  on 
wrhich  account  he  may  morally  depart  from  God ; 
still  he  lives  in  God,  and  God  lives  in  him  as  the 
essence  of  his  being;  so  that,  in  order  to  be 
happy,  man  must  return  to  God  —  in  other  words, 
recognize  God  as  the  very  fountain  of  his  spirit 
ual  life.  In  this  sense,  existence  is  not  life ;  in 
the  latter  lies  the  element  of  love,  and  thence  of 
happiness.  Existence,  indeed,  may  become  the 
deepest  curse,  for  it  may  be  burdened  with 
spiritual  hate,  which  is  death.  In  the  world  of 
mind,  then,  God  reigns  through  the  free  choice 
and  affection  of  each  individual  spirit.  Har 
mony,  interior  and  indestructible,  is  possible  only 
through  faith  and  love. 

25  (^ 


290  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

This  is  the  essential  teaching  of  Divine  Reve 
lation,  as  it  is  the  essential  teaching  of  nature, 
could  we  read  it  aright.  It  is  the  foundation 
principle  of  Christianity.  In  Jesus  Christ  this 
great  truth  is  incarnated.  It  lives  and  glows  in 
his  wondrous  career,  as  the  Word  of  God,  the 
Redeemer  of  men.  "  I  in  them,  and  Thou  in 
me."  In  this  central  unity,  which  is  God,  all 
souls  must  converge.  "  This  is  the  true  God 
and  eternal  life." 

Hence  we  find  our  Savior  equally  at  home  in 
the  bosom  of  nature  and  in  the  bosom  of  God 
—  in  the  inner  and  in  the  outer  world.  He  is 
"the  light  of  the  world."  He  is  "the  life  of 
man."  In  him  dwelleth  "all  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  bodily."  He  possesses  "all  power  in 
heaven  and  on  earth." 

So  that  Christ  is  ever  found  standing  at  the 
centre  of  things,  whether  in  the  sphere  of  matter 
or  of  mind,  of  history  or  of  religion,  "  drawing 
all  men,"  and  not  only  "  all  men,"  but  all  angels, 
"unto  him."  By  him  "were  all  things  created, 
visible  and  invisible"  —  he  is  "before  all  things, 
and  by  him  all  things  consist,"  as  Paul  expressly 
teaches.  That  is,  all  things  find  their  centre  in 
him,  come  to  order  and  harmony  in  him.* 

*  This,  as  stated  in  a  former  part  of  this  work,  is  the  import  of 
the  remarkable  term  consist,  (Greek  cwicriiKtv,}  literally  "in  him  all 
things  stand  together." 


TEACHING.  291 

Men  often  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  God 
in  the  world  of  external  or  material  forms,  but 
deny  it  in  that  of  interior  and  spiritual  forces. 
They  discern  the  action  of  his  creative  and  reno 
vating  spirit  in  the  seasons.  Joyfully  they  sing,  — 

"  0  God,  tliou  art  the  life  and  light 

Of  all  this  wondrous  world  we  see  ; 
Its  glow  by  day,  its  smile  by  night, 

Are  but  reflections  caught  from  thee  ;  " 

but  they  frequently  close  against  him,  both  theo 
retically  and  practically,  the  domain  of  the  soul, 
and  deny  the  very  possibility  of  a  new  creation, 
or  renovation  there.  Hence  their  alienation  and 
irreligion,  even  amid  the  forms  and  symbols  of 
worship.  Hence,  also,  their  rejection  of  a  pro 
found  spiritual  religion,  of  real  union  with  God, 
and  that  interior  life  fitly  called  divine. 

But  our  Savior  aims,  both  by  precept  and 
example,  to  bring  men  to  the  practical  acknowl 
edgment  of  God's  supremacy,  not  only  in  nature, 
but  in  the  soul;  so  that,  spiritually,  they  may  live 
in  God,  as  God  lives  in  them. 

This  is  the  true  coming  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  not  with  outward  movement,  or  me 
chanical  force,  but  by  inward  life  and  spiritual 
control.  "  The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with 
observation ;  neither  do  men  say,  Lo,  here  !  or  Lo, 
there !  but  the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you." 

Christ  does  not  despise  the  outward,  except 


292  CUEIST   IN   HISTO11Y. 

when  it  is  forced  into  competition  with  the  in 
ward.  On  earth,  he  seems  imbosomed  peacefully 
in  nature,  which  ever  does  him  homage.  Nay, 
more,  he  imbosoms  himself  in  society.  It  seems 
his  natural  home.  Rejected  and  despised  by  his 
apostate  countrymen,  he  yet  comes  to  them  as  a 
brother  and  a  friend.  His  death  itself  does  not 
remove  him  from  the  race.  He  abides  there  by 
his  spirit.  Through  this  means  he  organizes  a 
church,  or  spiritual  family,  in  which  he  may 
dwell,  bound  together  by  love,  and  observant  of 
all  holy  precepts.  Being  himself  the  embodiment 
of  the  divine,  he  would  ever  give  a  beautiful  body 
to  a  beautiful  soul;  so  that  the  church  is  anal 
ogous  to  his  body,  and  is  even  called  by  his 
name.  Thus  he  has  enshrined  the  kingdom,  in 
its  essential  powers,  in  fair  forms  and  usages,  to 
be  observed  by  his  followers  to  the  end  of*  time. 
In  this  way,  the  reality  within  expresses  itself  by 
the  image,  or  utterance  without.  But  the  interior 
power  is  first,  as  the  soul  is  first,  or  as  God,  who 
is  a  spirit,  is  first.  The  spirit  must  generate  the 
form,  as  God  creates  the  universe,  or  renews  the 
face  of  the  earth,  in  the  form  of  plants  and 
flowers. 

Clearly,  then,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  in 
ward,  spiritual,  immortal ;  and  in  that  kingdom 
God,  "  the  Father  of  us  all,"  must  be  "  Alpha 
and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end." 


TEACHING.  293 

This  is  only  another  mode  of  expressing  the 
fact,*that  a  religion,  to  be  good  for  anything, 
must  be  a  religion  of  spiritual  or  vital  force  —  a 
religion  of  inward  light  and  love,  all-comprehend 
ing  and  imperishable. 

Such  a  religion,  however,  must  be  taught  both 
by  word  and  deed  —  that  is,  by  the  word  within, 
and  the  word  without  —  for  all  action  is  a  kind  of 
word.  It  must  embody  and  exemplify  itself  in  a 
divine  and  human  life.  God  and  man  must  be 
seen  in  company;  the  union,  secret  and  inde 
structible,  must  be  exhibited  at  once  in  speech 
and  in  action. 

For  this  reason,  Christ  lives  as  the  incarnation 
or  embodiment  of  God.  The  Son  reveals  the 
Father.  The  one  is  the  measure  and  manifesta 
tion  of  the  other.  Through  the  Son,  the  Father 
communicates  his  life  to  the  world.  Thus  God 
comes,  as  Christ  comes.  His  reign  is  acted  into 
the  historic  life  of  man  —  into  the  life  of  each 
Christian  soul.  So  that  now  "the  tabernacle 
of  God  is  with  men."  We  dwell  in  him,  he 
dwells  in  us.  All  are  one,  as  God  and  Christ 
are  one. 

A  religion,  then,  which  stops  short  of  God, 
and  a  true  reign  of  heaven  in  the  soul,  has  neither 
truth  nor  power.  That  only  is  real  and  divine 
which  first  brings  God  to  man,  and  then  brings 
man  to  God.  Harmony,  deep  and  eternal,  is 
25* 


294:  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

found  only  in  the  God-man,  and  the  ineffable 
union  thence  secured  between  the  soul  of  a 
believer  and  the  Spirit  of  God  —  a  result  accom 
plished  by  a  reconciling  and  regenerating  power 
on  the  part  of  Christ,  by  a  penitent  and  confiding 
faith  on  the  part  of  the  Christian.  "  God  is  in 
Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself." 

How  plain,  then,  the  proposition,  already 
hinted,  that  Christ  presents  himself  to  us  as  an 
infinite  central  power,  from  which  flows  a  spirit 
ual  influence  to  redeem  the  lost,  and  thus  consti 
tute  a  sacred  organization,  which  may  be  the 
light  and  glory  of  the  world ! 

All  this  is  expressed  by  Christ  in  a  few  preg 
nant  sentences,  which  he  uttered  in  the  form  of 
supplication,  just  before  his  death.  "  That  they 
all  may  be  one,  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I 
in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us ;  that 
the  world  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me. 
And  the  glory  which  thou  gavest  me  I  have 
given  them  ;  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we 
are  one  ;  Tin  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may 
be  made  perfect  in  one" 

The  same  great  truth  has  been  uttered  in  all 
ages  by  the  church  universal,  in  that  prayer 
which  Christ  taught  his  disciples,  the  model 
and  form  of  all  true  supplication :  "  Our  Father 
who  art  in  heaven  —  hallowed  be  thy  name. 
Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as 


TEACHING.  295 

it  is  done  in  heaven."  This,  then,  is  the  key 
note  of  our  Savior's  teaching. 

True  to  this  grand  conception,  which,  as  a 
conception,  is  original  and  perfect,  like  the  sun 
shining  by  its  own  light,  Jesus  Christ  went  forth 
"  to  teach  and  to  preach "  amid  the  hills  and 
valleys,  and  in  the  cities  and  villages  of  Judea. 
He  addressed  himself  chiefly  to  the  common 
people,  in  language  of  marvellous  simplicity  and 
force.  He  spoke  to  them  respecting  God  and 
the  soul,  sin  and  holiness,  life  and  death,  duty 
and  immortality,  as  man  had  never  before  spoken. 
And  not  only  so,  but  he  looked  all  he  said,  acted 
all  he  said ;  so  that  he  himself  was  a  living 
Word,  an  embodied,  eternal  Discourse. 

So  striking  and  authoritative  was  his  teaching, 
and  yet  so  simple  and  clear,  that  all  were  com 
pelled  to  acknowledge  its  force.  Attracting  to 
himself  a  few  childlike  souls,  mostly  fishermen, 
who  longed  for  the  coming  of  the  kingdom,  of 
which  they  cherished  only  dim  conceptions,  he 
made  known  to  them  gradually  the  design  of  his 
mission,  and  the  principles  of  his  kingdom.  The 
terms  used  are  so  familiar  and  translucent,  and 
yet  so  perfect  and  full,  that  while,  from  our  famil 
iarity  with  them,  they  seem  the  merest  common 
places,  they  yet  contain  the  grandest  and  deep 
est  verities.  But  they  would  never  have  become 
commonplaces,  even  to  us,  had  they  not  pos- 


296  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

sessed,  at  first,  the  most  complete  originality,  as 
well  as  the  most  touching  simplicity.  Like  the 
unchanging  stars,  familiar  to  us  from  childhood, 
they  are  more  than  they  seem.  Their  beauty  is 
of  the  infinite.  Back  of  these  luminous  points 
lie  undiscovered  worlds. 

Indeed,  the  language  of  Christ  is  not  that  of 
the  schools,  far  less  of  the  rhetoricians.  It  is 
scarcely  language  at  all.  So  transparent  is  it, 
you  see  the  things  rather  than  the  words.  In 
fact,  it  is  only  when  you  see  the  things  rather 
than  the  words,  that  you  understand  him. 
"  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  see  God." 
"  There  is  joy  in  heaven,  among  the  angels  of 
God,  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth."  "  Our 
Father."  "  Take  no  thought  [care]  for  the  mor 
row.  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they 
grow.  They  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin  ;  and 
yet  I  say  unto  you,  that  Solomon,  in  all  his 
glory,  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these." 
"  Peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto 
you."  "  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  man 
sions  ;  if  it  were  not  so  I  would  have  told  you. 
I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you."  "  He  that  hath 
seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father."  "  God  is  a 
spirit."  "  Labor  not  for  the  meat  that  perisheth, 
but  for  that  which  endureth  to  eternal  life." 
"  Two  men  went  up  unto  the  temple  to  pray, 
the  one  a  Pharisee,  the  other  a  publican.  The 


TEACHING.  297 

Pharisee  stood  by  himself  and  said,  <  God,  I 
thank  thee  that  I  am  not  as  other  men  are,  un 
just,  extortioners,  or  even  as  this  publican.'  But 
the  publican,  standing  afar  off,  would  not  so 
much  as  lift  up  his  eyes  unto  heaven,  but  smote 
upon  his  breast,  and  cried,  *  God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner. "  How  simple  all  this,  but  how 
full,  how  significant ! 

The  teaching  of  Christ  is  that  of  inspiration,  or, 
as  we  term  it,  of  revelation,  a  revelation  as  rich 
and  varied  as  nature  itself;  new  and  strange,  like 
the  well-known  face  of  earth  and  sky,  in  which  all 
forms  are  blended  with  a  familiar,  yet  mystic  beau 
ty.  In  a  word,  it  is  the  utterance  of  that  eternal 
Wisdom  (Logos)  from  which  are  all  things,  nat 
ural  and  divine.  "  Never  man  spake  like  this 
man."  Sometimes  in  the  synagogues,  but 
oflener  in  the  open  air,  by  the  wayside  or  by  the 
well,  on  the  mountain  or  by  the  margin  of  the 
lake,  in  the  shadow  of  the  temple  or  in  the 
depth  of  the  wilderness,  he  uttered  his  words  of 
life.  Nothing  could  be  more  natural,  nothing 
more  thrilling  and  impressive. 

The  originality,  completeness,  and  imaginative 
beauty  of  his  parables,  in  which  the  highest, 
most  abstract,  spiritual  truths  are  embodied  in 
familiar  forms,  which  have  all  1  ho  vividness  of 
life,  must  have  greatly  struck  the  minds  of  the 
people.  Containing  unknown  dept  hs  of  spiritual 


298  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

truth,  they  arc  yet  simple  and  beautiful  as  the 
falling  dew,  or  the  blowing  clover.  God  and  the 
soul,  in  their  mysterious  relations,  duty  and  hap 
piness,  sin  and  misery,  the  infinite  and  immortal 
state,  regeneration  and  resurrection,  the  renova 
tion  of  society,  the  restitution  of  all  things,  the 
everlasting  life,  the  everlasting  death,  all  are  in 
carnated  in  these  marvellous  inspirations.  The 
invisible  world  is  made  as  patent  as  the  visible; 
mysterious,  indeed,  as  all  things  are  mysterious, 
stretching  away  into  the  everlasting  immensities, 
yet  real,  palpable,  glowing.  Every  thing  exter 
nal  and  internal  is  set  in  motion  ;  all  around  us, 
within  us,  and  above  us,  trembles  with  life.  The 
most  delicate  and  affecting  relations,  the  deepest 
feelings,  the  most  amazing  facts  and  changes  in 
the  realm  of  spirit,  are  bodied  forth  in  shapes  of 
grace  and  power. 

Indeed,  all  outward  things,  in  the  parabolic 
and  figurative  language  of  Christ,  are  made  to 
symbolize  and  describe  invisible  realities.  The 
elder  dispensations,  the  types  and  shadows  of 
the  Jewish  worship,  the  temple  with  its  mystic 
forms  and  magnificent  ritual,  all  external  changes 
and  usages,  earth  and  sky,  mountains  and 
streams,  plants  and  animals,  are  made  to  range 
themselves,  in  figurative  beauty,  around  his  mar 
vellous  revelations. 

But  what-is  most  peculiar  in  the  teaching  of 


TEACHING. 


299 


Christ  is,  that  the  whole  is  but  an  image  or  re 
production  of  himself.  All  that  is  human,  all 
that  is  divine,  meets  in  him,  and  thence  utters 
itself  in  his  words  and  deeds.  Here  is  all  the 
past,  both  of  history  and  prophecy;  here  all  the 
present,  whether  of  earth  or  heaven,  of  natural  or 
supernatural ;  here  all  the  future,  with  its  amaz 
ing  changes,  its  restitutions  and  resurrections. 
In  him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  universe, 
because  "  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead ; " 
power,  purity,  love,  beauty,  blessedness,  —  in  a 
word,  all  the  possibilities  of  the  human  and  the 
divine. 

Hence  it  is  only  as  we  come  into  fellowship 
with  Christ  that  we  come  into  fellowship  with 
God  and  the  universe,  and  feel  that  deeper  love 
which  is  the  harmony  of  all  worlds.  "  I  am  the 
way,  the  truth,  and  the  life."  "  No  man  cometh 
unto  the  Father  but  by  me."  "The  Father 
loveth  the  Son,  and  hath  given  all  things  into 
his  hand."  "  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me."  "  I 
give  my  life  for  the  world."  "  I  give  unto  them 
eternal  life."  "  Believe  in  God,  believe  also  in 
me."  "  My  Father  will  love  you,  and  we  will 
come  and  make  our  abode  with  you."  "  I  and 
the  Father  are  one." 

Hence  the  force  of  his  own  most  significant 
explanation  :  "  This  is  life  eternal,  to  know  thee, 
the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  thou 


300  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

hast  sent."  "  This,"  says  the  apostle,  as  if  re 
peating  the  Master's  words,  "this  is  the  true 
God,  and  eternal  life." 

This  leads  us  to  remark,  that  the  life  of  Christ 
is  a  unit,  as  his  character  is  a  unit,  or  as  God  is 
a  unit.  Hence  his  doctrine  is  a  unit,  also  ;  for 
it  has  its  great  central  principle,  like  the  gravita 
tion  of  nature,  from  which  all  other  principles 
diverge,  and  to  which  they  all  return.  This  cen 
tral,  all-comprehending  truth  is,  that  God  is  ALL 
AND  IN  ALL  ;  and  being  such,  that  "  HE  is  RECON 
CILING  THE  WORLD  UNTO  HIMSELF." 

It  may  be  viewed,  however,  as  it  is  taught  in 
the  words  of  our  Savior  and  his  disciples,  who 
derived  iifrom  him,  in  its  various  details  and  ap 
plications. 

What,  in  this  view,  then,  are  some  of  the  lead 
ing  principles  taught  by  Christ  ? 

1.  The  "atlncss"  of  God,  including  his  abso 
lute  spirituality,  supremacy,  and  eternity. 

2.  The   personality    and   paternity  of    God  — 
"  Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven" 

3.  The  spirituality  of  man,  as  formed  in  the  divine 
image;    the  consequent  possibility  of   his   union 
and  fellowship  with  God,  and  his  immortality. 

4.  The  atonement;  that  is,  reconciliation  or  re 
union  between  God  and  man,  through  Christ  as  a 
mediator ;  thence  the  doctrine  of  "justification  by 
faith  alone,"  faith  being  the  link  which  unites  the 


TEACHING.  301 

soul  to  Christ,  and  through  Christ  to  God  —  "  I  in 
them,  and  thou  in  me ; "  whence  spring  the  free 
dom,  strength,  and  joy  of  the  Christian  state* 

5.  Regeneration,  or  the  new  and  eternal  life  in 
God  —  "  born  again  "  —  "  born  from  above  "  —  "  # 
new  [spiritual]  creation  in  Christ  Jesus." 

6.  The  brotherhood  of  man,  or  the  unity  of  the 
church  —  "  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism." 

7.  Eternity,  or  the  tendency  of   all  things  to 
fixed  and  permanent  states;  in  other  words,  the 
final,  absolute   issue  of  all  thing's  according  to 
their  nature. 

8.  Responsibility,  individual  and  common,  in 
volving  the  possible  eternal  divergence  of  charac 
ter  and  doom,  being  the  eternal  life,  or  the  eternal 
death. 

9.  The  resurrection  of  the  dead,  or  the  com 
pleted  perfection  of  the  body  and  the  soul ;  that 
is,  of  the  whole  nature  of  the  renovated  man  — 
the  earthly,  carnal,  and  perishable  being  exchanged 
for  the  heavenly,  the  spiritual,  and  immortal. 

10.  Grace,  or  the  Holy   Spirit,  a  modification 
of  the    doctrine    of  the    life    in    God,   whence 


*  The  atonement,  or  reconciliation,  is  made  by  intervention  and 
sacrifice.  The  sacrifice,  of  course,  is  voluntary  and  vicarious,  that  is, 
it  is  the  suffering  of  the  innocent  for  the  guilty,  the  sinless  for  the 
sinful;  not,  indeed,  as  a  quid  pro  quo,  but  as  a  prerequisite  to  union. 
On  this  ground  the  doctrine  of  mediation  and  sacrifice  is  funda 
mental.  And,  \vhat  is  singular,  it  is  recognized  in  all  religions.  See, 
upon  this  subject,  Appendix,  note  E. 


302  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

prayer,  or  the  communion  of  the  finite  with  the 
Infinite,  the  spirit  of  man  with  the  Spirit  of  God. 

11.  Charity,  or  the  doctrine  of  overcoming'  evil 
with  good,  the  method  of  Christ  and  of  God. 

12.  The  permanence  of  the  church,  or  the  or 
ganization  of   believers  in    Christ,  as  their  cen 
tral  animating  spirit,  made  visible  in  holy  uses 
and  worship. 

13.  The  possible  renovation  of  the  race ;    on 
the  ground  of  which  we  may  cherish  the  hope  of 
universal  peace,  and  the  brotherhood  not  only  of 
individuals,  but   of  nations.     This  would  be  the 
triumph  of  God  in  society.       Then,  not  only  in 
reference  to  himself,  or  his  absolute  nature  and 
eternal  purpose,  but  in  reference  to  the  race,  and 
the  actual  condition  of  things,  God  would  be  all 
and  in  all* 

The  sum  of  the  whole  is,  consecration  of  all 
things  to  God,  and  the  restitution  of  all  things  in 
God,  a  new  law  and  a  new  life,  a  new  body  and 
a  new  soul,  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth  ;  in 
its  practical,  every-day  application,  briefly  and 


*  It  is  on  the  ground  that  society  ought  to  be  regarded  as  a  divine 
institution,  yet  to  be  planted  on  its  proper  basis,  and  to  subserve  its 
proper  end.  Under  God,  therefore,  all  righteous  governments  are 
to  be  established,  and  all  good  and  wholesome  laws  enacted.  This 
would  not  be  the  union  of  church  and  state,  as  ordinarily  understood  ; 
but  the  church  and  the  state,  in  their  separate  spheres,  guarded  and 
governed  by  eternal  principles,  and  thus  aiding  and  strengthening 
each  other. 


TEACHING.  303 

popularly  expressed  by  Christ  himself  in  his  ex 
position  of  the  law,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself.  On  these  two  commandments  hang  all 
the  law  and  the  prophets." 

But  the  great  truths  taught  by  original  minds 
are  not  at  first  received  and  appreciated  by  the 
mass  of  mankind.  They  are  seldom  thoroughly 
understood  even  by  their  immediate  disciples. 
Thus,  while  the  common  people  heard  him 
gladly  on  account  of  his  simplicity,  purity,  and 
force,  such  was  the  grossness  of  the  age,  such 
the  carnality  of  its  views,  that  few,  perhaps  none, 
adequately  understood  his  doctrine,  or  his  life. 
Its  elementary  principles,  however,  were  lodged, 
as  seed,  in  the  hearts  of  a  few  thoughtful,  Heaven- 
guided  men.  Checking  their  carnal  views,  cor 
recting  their  prejudices,  winning  their  affections, 
he  gradually  led  them  forth  from  the  darkness 
of  corrupted  Judaism  into  the  pure  light  of 
eternal  truth.  His  public  or  more  striking  acts, 
his  miracles,  as  we  call  them,  (of  which  more  in 
the  next  chapter,)  at  first  few  and  unimposing, 
though  most  significant,  were  just  enough  to 
attract  attention  to  his  claims,  and  attest  the 
divinity  of  his  mission.  They  were  all  distin 
guished  by  their  godlike  and  benevolent  charac 
ter.  Like  his  parables,  they  were  the  expression 
of  his  nature,  and  had  a  profound  spiritual  im- 


304  CHKIST    IN   HISTORY. 

port.  The  poor,  the  maimed,  the  halt,  the  sor 
rowful,  the  blind,  the  dumb,  the  paralytic,  the 
lunatic,  the  lost,  followed  him,  and  "  he  healed 
them  all."  But  while  healing  their  bodily  mal 
adies,  he  never  failed  to  administer  to  their  spir 
itual  wants,  thus  teaching  his  disciples,  in  all 
ages,  that  religion  is  intended  for  the  redemp 
tion  of  humanity,  in  all  its  aspects  and  interests, 
being  fitted  to  heal  both  the  body  and  the  soul, 
both  the  church  and  society. 

Christ  counteracted  no  laws  of  nature,  which 
are  laws  of  God,  or  the  modes  in  which  God 
acts  in  nature  and  among  men  ;  but  he  gave 
them  infinite  force,  and  threw  them  into  new  and 
marvellous  combinations,  the  result  of  which  wras 
calm,  not  storm,  health,  not  sickness,  life,  not 
death.  Perhaps  we  may  say  that  he  introduced 
new  laws,  or  new  modes  of  communicating  the 
central  power,  which  is  life.  Thence  we  find  him 
healing,  quickening,  controlling,  and  blessing  both 
the  bodies  and  the  souls  of  men ;  in  a  word,  bring 
ing  out,  in  new  and  glorious  manifestations,  the 
indwelling  might  of  divinity.  Thus  he  received 
the  testimony  of  unprejudiced  witnesses,  who 
said,  "  He  hath  done  all  things  well."  But  the 
outward,  in  his  case,  is  only  the  symbol  and  ex 
pression  of  the  inward  ;  for  it  is  the  inward  re 
demption,  the  inward  health,  the  spiritual  and 
everlasting  life,  mainly,  which  Christ  commu 
nicates. 


TEACHING.  305 

In  this  way  he  went  about  "  doing  good  "—  a 
mode  of  teaching  the  most  impressive.  The 
Platonic  philosophers  call  the  great  primal  and 
eternal  Essence  the  First  Good,  while  his  Logos, 
or  Word,  is  the  Son,  or  expression  of  the  First 
Good.  We  call  it  God,  the  old  Saxon  word  for 
good.  Christ,  then,  is  the  embodied  Good, 
which  is  just  the  same  as  to  say,  the  incarnate 
God.  And  what  else  can  he  teach,  what  else 
can  he  do  on  earth,  but  good,  the  highest  proof 
of  divinity?  Thus  every  where  he  preaches, 
both  by  word  and  deed,  righteousness,  charity, 
and  peace,  directs  the  attention  of  his  followers 
to  the  paternal  character  of  God,  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  man,  and  inspires  them  with  that 
holy  love  which  unites  them  to  God  and  to  one 
another,  in  eternal  bonds. 

Finally,  Christ  crowns  his  teaching  by  dying 
upon  the  cross,  dying,  "  the  just  for  the  unjust." 
This  is  the  triumph  of  divine  goodness,  this  the 
enthronement  of  disinterested  love.  In  this  mys 
terious  act,  to  use  the  language  of  a  great  poet, 
"  the  divine  depth  of  sorrow  lies  hid."  *  "  Father, 
forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do!  " 
There  speaks  the  heart  of  infinite  grace. 

This  is  teaching,  this  is  acting  like  a  God. 

Surely  the  world  can  never  forget  the  lesson 
of  the  cross. 

*  Goethe. 

26* 


306  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

How  the  thought  thrills  us,  thrills  unnumbered 
millions,  who  softly  but  exultingly  sing,  — 

"  In  the  cross  of  Christ  I  glory, 

Towering  o'er  the  wrecks  of  time  ; 
All  the  light  of  sacred  story 
Gathers  round  its  head  sublime." 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

MIRACLES.* 

THE  works  of  such  a  being  as  we  suppose 
Christ  to  be,  will  possess  a  special  divine  charac 
ter  and  import.  They  cannot,  therefore,  be  con 
sidered  apart  from  himself,  or  apart  from  each 
other.  They  belong  to  a  supernatural  system 
for  the  restoration  of  man  to  the  lost  image  of 
God.  Hence,  in  our  humble  judgment,  a  serious 
error  has  been  committed  in  the  discussion  of 
this  subject,  by  isolating  the  miracles  from  the 
essence  of  Christianity,  as  itself  supernatural, 
just  as  if  miracles  did  not  form  an  integral  part 
of  the  gospel  dispensation,  whose  fair  and  mas 
sive  proportions  can  be  estimated  only  when  con 
templated  as  a  divine  whole.  The  majority  who 
have  written  upon  miracles  have  vindicated  their 
title  to  our  respect,  as  the  external  defence  of 
Christianity,  treating  them  simply  as  redoubts  and 
outposts  of  the  sacred  citadel ;  on  which  account 
they  have  seemed  to  reason  in  a  circle,  proving 


*  This  chapter,  with  some  additions,  appeared  in  the  July  number 
of  the  Christian  Review  for  1853. 

(307) 


308  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

Christianity  by  the  miracles,  and  the  miracles  by 
Christianity.  They  have  admitted,  on  Hume's 
own  ground,  that  no  amount  of  testimony  will 
establish  a  lying  wonder,  or  what  may  be  termed 
an  immoral  miracle,  that  is,  a  miracle  wrought 
in  defence  of  error  and  imposture,  all  of  them 
taking  it  for  granted  that  such  miracles  may  be 
performed  through  satanic  or  other  equivalent 
agency. 

Hence  they  have  been  compelled  to  defend 
Christianity  by  that  which  Christianity  alone 
can  authenticate  as  divine.  Having  courageous 
ly  fought  the  battle  of  miracles,  and,  as  they 
supposed,  gained  the  victory,  they  have  found 
themselves  obliged  to  fight  it  all  over  again  in 
defending  Christianity  itself.  Thus  it  has  come 
to  pass,  in  the  estimation  of  some  of  the  ablest 
speculative  thinkers,  that,  instead  of  being  a  de 
fence  to  Christianity,  miracles  have  proved  its 
greatest  hinderance.  For,  without  the  essence 
of  Christianity,  as  a  religion  of  purity  and  power, 
miracles,  as  supernatural  manifestations,  would 
be  utterly  indefensible.  Some  devout  men  have 
been  able  to  retain  the  miracles  only  by  means 
of  the  perfect  and  supernatural  religion  with 
which  they  are  associated ;  a  striking  instance 
of  which  may  be  found  in  the  case  of  the  elo 
quent  Schleiermacher. 

For  the  same   reason,  sceptical  writers,  like 


MiKACLES.  309 

Hume,  Spinoza,  Comte,  Emerson,  Parker,  and 
others,  have  readily  disposed  of  technical  and 
isolated  miracles  as  simple  prodigies,  or,  as  they 
choose  to  call  them,  "  violations  of  the  laws  of 
nature."  Standing  alone,  outside  of  Christiani 
ty,  they  have  easily  swept  them  aside  by  the  phi 
losophy  of  "  nature,"  or  of  immutable  law, 
whether  material  or  ideal.  Even  those  of  them 
who  believe  in  a  personal  God,  as  Parker  pro 
fesses  to  do,  have  no  hesitation  in  denying  mira 
cles,  in  themselves  considered  ;  for  God,  in  their 
view,  cannot  be  supposed  to  violate  or  even 
suspend  the  law  of  his  own  universe,  that  is,  the 
common  course  and  constitution  of  things.  Mir 
acles,  even  if  admitted  as  possible,  on  the  theory 
of  these  men,  stand  alone,  and  require  for  their 
establishment  a  peculiar  kind  and  amount  of 
proof.  Hence  they  set  themselves  to  weaken 
the  force  of  that  proof,  often  with  apparent  suc 
cess,  long  before  the  gospel,  as  a  system,  is 
touched  at  all.  Their  assumption,  too,  about 
"  the  violation  of  nature,"  which,  in  some  sense, 
may  be  considered  impossible,  is  made  plausible 
on  the  same  ground ;  so  that  the  Christian  faith 
seems  demolished  before  a  single  blow  has  fallen 
upon  its  proper  fabric. 

Let  us  pass,  however,  into  the  heart  of  the 
magnificent  structure  of  our  common  Christi 
anity,  founded  upon  the  Rock  of  Ages,  and 


310  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

towering  high  towards  the  illuminated  heavens  ; 
and  even  if  we  admit  that  the  miracles,  as  such, 
are  its  outer  buttresses,  we  shall  see,  at  a  glance, 
that  they  are  a  part  of  the  whole,  and  only  add 
to  its  symmetry  and  strength.  The  materials, 
too,  are  precisely  the  same,  though  jthe  interior 
portions  may  present  a  more  delicate  architectu 
ral  finish  ;  for  they  are  all  the  product  of  a  celes 
tial  hand.  The  whole,  as  supernatural  and  divine, 
must  stand  or  fall  together. 

Is  there  a  personal  God  ?  Has  he  a  distinct, 
productive,  all-controlling  will  ?  In  other  words, 
is  he,  the  all-creative  One,  a  Spirit,  immanent, 
it  may  be,  in  nature,  and  yet  superior  to  nature  ? 
Is  man,  too,  though  finite,  a  distinct,  productive 
will,  a  rational  and  responsible  agent,  formed  in 
the  image  of  God  ?  Is  the  outer  universe,  then, 
or  what  we  call  nature,  with  all  its  forces,  dy 
namic  or  mechanical,  under  God,  a  mere  agent 
or  instrument ;  and  can  God  control  it  with  the 
sovereignty  of  a  master  ?  If  so,  then  creations 
and  re-creations,  vital  changes  and  transforma 
tions,  new  species  and  new  eras,  renovations, 
redemptions,  miracles,  as  supernatural  divine, 
manifestations,  are  possible,  are  probable.  The 
spiritual,  the  supernatural,  the  religious,  are  all 
possible  and  real. 

Here  we  have  a  foundation  on  which  to  base 
our  reasonings  in  reference  to  Christianity,  which 


MIRACLES.  311 

we  claim  to  be,  tinder  God,  a  supernatural  sys 
tem,  a  new  beginning  or  spiritual  creation, 
through  the  medium  of  the  Divine  Logos,  or  in 
carnate  Word,  in  which  miracles  play  a  most 
important  part,  not  in  violation  of  nature,  but  as 
above  and  beyond  nature,  being  the  more  direct 
and  tangible  demonstrations  of  the  life-giving  or 
creative  power. 

But  "  to  the  law  and  the  testimony  ;  "  for  in 
this  matter  we  must  correct  and  control  all 
speculative  reasonings  by  a  reference  to  the  facts 
in  the  case.  How  stands  the  matter  in  the 
Christian  records  ?  This  is  our  first  inquiry. 
It  is  proper,  however,  to  remark,  that  our  word 
miracles  (which  simply  signifies  wonders,  though, 
in  the  use  we  now  make  of  it,  involving  the  idea 
of  the  supernatural  or  divine)  is  somewhat  in 
definite,  and  scarcely  covers  the  whole  series  of 
supernatural  acts  or  works,  by  which  our  Lord 
not  only  attested,  but  accomplished,  his  mission. 
In  the  New  Testament,  quite  a  variety  of  terms 
are  used  to  designate  them,  not  simply  as  won 
ders,  but  as  special  divine  acts,  such  as  might 
naturally  constitute  or  accompany  a  divine  mis 
sion.  They  are  called  "  signs,"  as  it  were  di 
vine  signatures  or  seals,  "gifts,"  "gifts  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  «  powers,"  "  works,"  "  mighty 
works,"  that  is,  special  divine  operations,  indi 
cating  the  presence  and  sanction  of  the  Deity. 


312  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

In  brief,  they  are  such  "  wonders "  as  might  be 
expected  from  the  "  Wonderful." 

Though  these  may  be  represented  as  the  signs 
or  attestations  of  a  divine  mission,  they  are  not 
exclusively  such  ;  and  hence,  in  the  department 
of  Christian  evidences,  too  much  stress  has 
been  laid  upon  their  merely  physical  or  external 
aspects.  They  have  been  used  as  the  main,  and 
sometimes  as  the  exclusive,  proof  of  divine  reve 
lation.  "Whereas  the  character  of  Christ,  who 
in  reference  to  the  miracles  is  the  sun  amid 'the 
stars,  is  the  principal  evidence.  His  very  pres 
ence  among  men,  like  a  new  sun  in  the  heavens, 
is  sufficient  proof  of  his  divinity.  The  miracles 
can  only  be  a  collateral  evidence,  and  in  many 
cases,  perhaps,  chiefly  useful  to  those  who  be 
held  them.  They  are  parts  of  a  great  system, 
whose  divine  grandeur  and  perfection  must  be 
obvious  to  every  well-constituted  mind. 

At  any  rate,  they  ought  never  to  be  regarded 
as  insulated  facts,  but  rather  as  the  natural  ex 
pression  and  accompaniment  of  a  divine  mission. 
That  admitted  as  a  possibility,  the  miracles  fol 
low  as  a  matter  of  course. 

For  what  is  it  we  naturally  expect  in  such  a 
manifestation  of  God  ?  The  godlike,  of  course  ; 
and  if  the  godlike,  the  wonderful  —  nay,  far 
more  than  the  wonderful,  the  omnipotent,  the  all- 
beautiful  and  good. 


MIRACLES.  313 

Such  miracles,  though  transcending  nature, 
would  not  be  contrary  to  nature  ;  for  nature,  as 
we  use  the  term,  is  only  God's  method  of  acting 
in  the  sphere  and  time  with  which  we  happen  to 
be  familiar.  In  its  philosophical  sense,  it  is  but 
the  aggregate  of  those  natural  forces  or  laws  by 
which  the  infinite  Spirit  acts  in  the  visible  uni 
verse.  Nature  then  is  only  a  part.  God  is  the 
whole.  While  "in  all,"  he  is  yet  "above  all." 
Certainly  his  powers  are  not  exhausted  in  na 
ture  ;  over  and  above  all  its  methods  and  all  its 
forces,  he  may  possess  infinite  methods,  bound 
less  resources. 

Some  inconsiderate  theologians,  and  almost 
all  sceptics,  as  we  have  intimated,  have  repre 
sented  the  Christian  miracles  as  "  a  violation  of 
the  laws  of  nature,"  whereas  they  are  only  "  over 
and  above  nature."  It  is  only  in  the  sense  of 
being  divine,  that  we  deem  them  transcendent 
and  wonderful. 

If  any  thing  is  contrary  to  nature,  it  is  sin. 
That  violates  the  divine  law,  that  opposes  the 
course  and  constitution  of  nature,  introducing 
among  men  disorder  and  death.  So  terrible  is 
its  influence,  that  it  has  become  a  power  in  the 
world,  having  the  force  of  a  law,  to  which  we 
sometimes  give  the  name  of  nature,  because, 
from  the  force  of  habit,  it  has  become  a  "  second 
nature;"  after  all,  it  is  most  unnatural  and  ac- 
27 


814:  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

cursed.  It  opposes  God  and  goodness,  darkens 
and  desolates  the  soul  of  man. 

Sin,  then,  is  disturbance,  or  anarchy,  and  in 
this  sense  a  violation  of  all  laws,  natural  and 
divine.  For  its  removal,  a  counteracting  force  is 
needed,  a  force  above  nature,  and  yet  in  accord 
ance  with  nature,  a  force  of  renewal  and  regen 
eration.  It  is  a  great  and  fatal  mistake,  how 
ever,  to  confine  the  miraculous  or  divine  to  mere 
physical  or  external  manifestations.  Its  highest 
sphere  is  the  spiritual.  Here  its  life-giving  and 
transforming  energies  are  chiefly  seen.  Christ 
himself,  the  truly  divine,  is  the  great  miracle  ;  all 
other  miracles  are  streams  from  this  fountain, 
rays  from  this  sun. 

The  whole  subject,  generalized,  presents  itself 
to  us  in  the  light  of  the  following  question : 
What  may  be  reasonably  expected  in  an  incar 
nation  of  the  Deity,  such  as  Christ  claims  to  be  ? 
All,  doubtless,  which  is  peculiar  to  God,  and 
the  great  object  to  be  served  by  his  advent 
among  men. 

God  is  the  omnipotent  Creator ;  hence  works 
or  manifestations  of  creative  power. 

God  is  the  all-good;  hence  manifestations  of 
boundless  love  and  pity. 

God  is  the  life-giver  ;  hence  miracles  of  heal 
ing,  of  revival  and  resurrection. 

In  a  word,  the  whole  mission  of  such  a  being 


MIRACLES.  315 

would  be  a  new  moral  or  divine  creation,  and 
thence  a  life-giving  or  transforming  power. 
Negatively,  he  would  cast  out  the  demon,  the 
incarnated,  indwelling  spirit  of  evil ;  positively, 
he  would  bring  all  heaven,  with  its  love  and 
peace,  into  the  soul. 

In  which  case  the  inward  and  spiritual  would 
be  symbolized  and  expressed  by  the  outward  and 
physical.  All  nature  would  wait  upon  its  God. 
So  that  works  of  atonement,  reconciliation,  and 
regeneration  would  naturally  be  associated  with 
works  of  physical  control,  of  healing  and  resur 
rection  in  the  outer  or  material  sphere. 

Thus  any  kind  of  wonderful  or  supernatural 
works  would  not  be  a  proof  of  a  divine  mission ; 
and  many  signs  of  a  striking  but  mechanical 
character  would  not  be  found  in  it.  Such  works 
the  Messiah  might  decline,  even  as  proofs  of  his 
divinity.*  Besides,  he  would  attach,  as  we 
ought,  more  importance  to  his  higher  spiritual 
works,  which  link  themselves  immediately  to  the 
great  end  of  his  mission,  than  to  any  thing  ex 
ternal,  however  striking.  He  might  even  refuse 
to  work  appropriate  external  miracles,  when  he 
perceived  that  they  would  not  subserve  his  great 


*  "An  evil  and  adulterous  generation  seeketh  after  a  sign,  [such 
a  sign  as  that  referred  to.]  but  there  shall  no  [such]  sign  be 
given  it." 


316  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

spiritual  design,  or  only  minister  to  selfish  appe 
tites  and  carnal  views.* 

The  main  thing,  then,  in  such  a  mission,  would 
be  the  new  spiritual  force  or  life,  embodied  in  the 
person  of  the  Redeemer,  and  imparted  to  the 
race  —  the  holy  love,  the  eternal  purity  and  joy 
given  by  his  incarnation  and  atonement  to  man 
kind. 

In  fine,  the  mission  of  Christ,  if  divine,  would 
be  a  new  spiritual  beginning,  of  which  the  first 
beginning,  in  the  physical  creation,  supplies  a 
beautiful  type  or  symbol.  The  miracles  cluster 
ing  around  it,  illustrating  or  enforcing  it,  would 
be  only  its  outer  garniture,  or  rather  its  natural 
and  graceful  accompaniment,  like  the  song  of 
the  morning  stars,  which  hailed  the  new-made 
world. 

An  inquiry  here  suggests  itself:  Might  false  or 
imaginary  miracles  mingle  themselves  in  the  mere 
histories  of  such  a  life  ?  The  thing  is  not  impos 
sible,  but  the  proof  of  the  fact  must  be  given.  It 
is,  indeed,  quite  conceivable  how  that,  in  subse 
quent  time,  and  as  the  mere  human  result  of  such 
a  mission,  imaginary  miracles  might  be  sup 
posed,  and  some  natural  events  mistaken  for 


*  Hence  our  Savior  refused  to  gratify  Herod  in  this  respect.  On 
one  occasion  it  is  said,  "  lie  did  no  mighty  works  there,  because 
of  their  unbelief."  It  would  have  been  "  casting  pearls  before 
swine." 


MIRACLES.  317 

miracles.  We  do  not  here  say  that  such  is  the 
case ;  we  only  say  that  such  is  not  impossible, 
perhaps  not  improbable.  But  this  would  not 
affect  the  argument  in  favor  of  the  great  life- 
giving  powers,  the  miracles  of  renovation  and 
resurrection,  which  form  the  substratum  of  Chris 
tianity. 

It  is  important  here  to  remark,  that  all  mira 
cles,  or  all  events  claimed  to  be  supernatural,  are 
not  credible.  In  ordinary  circumstances,  they 
might  be  regarded  as  positively  incredible.  For 
then  they  are  effects  without  an  adequate  cause. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  does  not  follow  that  all 
miracles  are  incredible.  Indeed,  some  events  of 
this  sort,  in  themselves,  may  be  highly  credible ; 
for  they  may  bear  the  stamp  of  divinity  on  their 
very  front.  So  far  from  being  effects  without  a 
cause,  they  may  be  presumed  to  have  the  highest 
cause  in  the  universe,  that  is,  God.  The  spuri 
ous  article,  however  abundant,  by  no  means 
proves  that  the  genuine  is  not  to  be  found  some 
where.  Were  all  other  religions  mythical,  mid 
all  other  miracles  false,  the  religion  of  Christ,  and 
the  miracles  of  Christ,  might  be  real  and  divine. 
That  they  are  real  and  divine  is  proved  by  the 
facts  in  the  case.  They  are  altogether  peculiar ; 
they  are  such  as  might  naturally  be  expected ; 
they  are  worthy  of  their  divine  origin ;  they  are 
such  as  must  ever  be  found  in  connection  with 
27  * 


313  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

a.  divine  mission,  nay,  such  as  must  ever  consti 
tute  a  divine  mission.  For  we  return  here  to 
our  fundamental  position,  namely,  that  Christ  is 
ki  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,"  and  his  whole  life, 
from  beginning  to  end,  supernatural  and  divine. 
It  can  be  regarded  as  consisting  of  different 
parts,  and  some  of  its  elements,  taken  alone,  may 
be  called  natural  and  human ;  after  all,  it  is  one 
in  its  more  interior  characteristics,  in  which  view 
it  far  transcends  any  thing  among  men.  As  a 
whole,  it  is  supernatural  and  divine,  and  thence 
the  means  of  a  new  spiritual  life  in  the  world. 

The  whole  question  of  miracles,  in  its  funda 
mental  relations,  thus  turns  on  the  possibility  of 
the  supernatural.  Such  possibility  the  oppo 
nents  of  Christianity  generally  deny,  those  of 
them  at  least  who  make  the  slightest  pretensions 
to  philosophical  thought. 

But  the  supernatural,  as  connected  with  Chris 
tianity,  is  equivalent  to  a  new  creation,  or  the 
exertion  of  a  divine  creative  power.  For  exam 
ple,  the  birth  of  Christ  is  a  new  beginning  or  cre 
ation.  He  comes  into  the  world  as  a  divine  or 
supernatural  agent.  So  also  the  changing  of 
water  into  wine,  the  restoration  of  sight  to  the 
blind  and  of  life  to  the  dead,  the  feeding  of  five 
thousand  persons  with  a  few  loaves  and  fishes, 
and  the  resurrection  of  Christ  himself,  are  all 
creative  acts,  or  acts  equivalent  to  creative. 


MIRACLES.  319 

Now,  the  possibility  of  the  supernatural,  in 
this  view,  can  be  denied  consistently  only  by 
those  who  deny  the  possibility  of  all  divine  cre 
ations.  If,  for  example,  they  deny  the  existence 
of  God,  or  a  supreme  creative  Intelligence,  or 
if  they  maintain  the  existence  of  such  a  God  as 
cannot  freely  and  intelligently  create,  they  can 
deny  the  possibility  of  miracles.  This,  in  fact,:is 
the  position  assumed  by  all  the  abler  opponents 
of  Christianity  as  a  supernatural  scheme  —  Spi 
noza,  Hume,  Hegel,  and  Strauss. 

Hence  miracles  have  been  rejected,  first  of  all, 
on  the  ground  of  atheism.  Of  course  with  the 
class  of  theorists  who  take  this  monstrous  posi 
tion,  we  can  have  no  discussion  here,  except  to 
remind  them,  that  modern  science  has  actually 
proved  the  fact  of  successive  creations.  Geology 
has  set  this  matter  forever  at  rest*  We  might 
also  remind  them,  that  man,  in  some  sense  a 
productive  will,  and  so  far  capable  of  acting 
above  what  we  call  nature,  or  the  outward  cre 
ation,  is  capable  of  certain  acts  at  least  analogous 
to  the  supernatural.  And  if  a  finite  intelligence 
can  act  thus,  can  interfere  at  certain  points,  in 
the  movement  of  nature,  by  means  of  new  com 
binations  of  power,  and  thus  perform  wonders. 

*  All  the  great  geological  writers  maintain  this — Lyell,  Agas- 
siz,  Brogniart,  Buckland,  Murchison.  Mantell,  Miller,  Hitchcock, 
and  others. 


320  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

which  appear  to  his  fellows,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
steam  engine  and  the  electric  telegraph,  all  but 
supernatural,  why  may  not  an  infinite  Intelligence 
interfere,  by  miracles  so  stupendous  and  thrilling 
as  to  be  equivalent  to  the  creation  of  worlds? 
But  atheists  usually  deny  the  freedom  and  spirit 
uality  of  man,  as  well  as  the  existence  of  a 
supreme  creative  Power,  making  man  the  mere 
machine  of  the  universal  machine  which  they 
call  nature. 

For  the  same  reason,  miracles  have  been 
denied  on  the  ground  of  materialism.  Reject 
ing  the  existence  of  spirit,  and  even  of  thought 
and  volition,  except  as  the  production  of  matter, 
such  theorists  maintain  the  absolute  material 
identity  of  all  things,  If  there  be  a  God,  matter 
is  that  God,  universal  matter,  or  aught  else  they 
may  choose  to  call  it,  governed  by  necessary  and 
eternal  laws,  consequently  revolving  in  an  endless 
cycle,  without  the  possibility  of  new  beginnings, 
supernatural  changes,  or  creations.  Perhaps  such 
men  do  not  positively  say  what  matter  is ;  they 
speak  only  of  its  laws,  and  thence,  as  in  the  case 
of  Auguste  Comte,  refer  all  things  to  the  uniform 
and  eternal  action  of  necessary  forces,  in  which 
religion  is  a  necessary,  though  temporary  develop 
ment,  in  the  "hierarchic  des  sciences  positives." 
Of  course,  in  such  a  system,  there  can  be  no  place 
for  miracles.  Both  God  and  Christ,  and  even 


MIRACLES.  321 

man,  as  responsible  spiritual  agents,  are  denied. 
Man  is  but  a  link  in  the  eternal  chain,  a  bubble 
on  the  surface  of  the  ever-flowing:  stream. 

O 

Is  it  not  clear,  however,  that  such  persons  de 
ceive  themselves  by  words  ?  Matter,  they  say, 
is  the  whole.  Then  the  question  arises,  What 
is  this  matter  of  which  they  predicate  so  much  ? 
The  question  is  not  answered  by  calling  it,  as 
most  persons  do,  a  substance,  formal,  limited, 
tangible,  divisible,  &c. ;  for  these  philosophers 
say  it  is  absolute  and  eternal,  nay,  that  it  is  all 
and  in  all.  It  is  not  an  effect,  but  a  cause, 
or  it  is  both.  On  this  theory  it  is  a  power,  an 
omnipotent  power,  for  it  produces  all  things,  does 
all  things.  Is  it  not  then  intelligent,  adapting 
means  to  ends,  working  according  to  method  and 
law?  Is  it  not,  in  fact,  a  conscious,  self-control 
ling  agent,  and  may  it  not  be  holy,  just,  and  good? 
Substitute,  then,  the  term  God  for  matter,  and 
what  have  we  but  the  old,  eternal  doctrine  of  the 
Creator,  supreme  over  all,  as  well  as  in  all  — 
whence  the  possibility  of  creations,  revelations, 
and  miracles. 

But  Comte  and  his  followers  would  say,  We 
do  not  refer  the  universe  to  matter,  or  call  it 
matter;  we  simply  affirm  that  the  whole  consists 
of  necessary  and  eternal  laws,  from  which  come 
all  the  changes  or  phenomena  of  the  universe. 
Laws!  what  are  they?  They  must  be  either 


322  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

methods  or  forces.  If  methods  or  rules,  they  are 
the  methods  or  rales  of  some  subject  or  cause, 
that  is,  of  God ;  for  they  display  infinite  power 
and  intelligence.  If  forces,  we  ask  again,  forces 
of  what?  for  forces  are  attributes  of  a  subject, 
qualities  of  a  being. 

The  fact  is,  we  are  so  constituted  as  to  be 
under  a  necessity  of  referring  all  qualities  and 
changes  to  some  Essence  or  Being  in  whom  they 
inhere,  or  from  whom  they  proceed.  Evidently, 
the  universe,  as  we  know  it,  is  a  production,  an 
organization,  or  congeries  of  organizations,  which 
must  have  a  beginning  or  cause.  And,  as  we 
know  of  no  new  changes  or  products  among 
men,  which  have  not,  back  of  them,  an  intelligent 
agent,  which  we  call  mind,  we  are  compelled  to 
conclude,  that  the  universe,  as  an  organism  the 
most  complicated  and  beautiful,  has,  back  of  it, 
an  all-creative  Mind.  And  if  so,  all  sorts  of  cre 
ations,  and  miracles  among  the  rest,  are  possible. 

But,  thirdly,  miracles  are  denied  on  the  ground 
of  pantheism. 

There  are  various  forms  of  pantheism,  but  in 
its  proper,  absolute  character,  it  denies  the  per 
sonality  of  God  as  well  as  the  personality  of 
man,  and  thus  represents  the  universe  as  God, 
and  God  as  the  universe,  without  consciousness, 
freedom,  or  intelligence.*  Hence  it  views  all 

*  As  involving  limitation  and  succession,  personality  cannot  be 


MIRACLES.  323 

things,  and  all  beings,  man  among  the  rest,  as 
only  parts  of  a  whole,  or  rather  as  only  limited 
manifestations  of  a  whole,  which  it  calls  Nature, 
God,  or  Spirit,  as  it  pleases.  Thus  Spinoza  made 
the  universe  to  consist  of  Natura  Naturans  and 
Natura  Naturata.  The  Natura  Naturata,  or  the 
outward  universe,  according  to  him,  is  the  neces 
sary  and  eternal  manifestation  of  the  Natura 
Naturans,  or  the  absolute  Substance,  which  has 
two  attributes,  Thought  and  Extension.  The 
laws  of  such  a  nature,  of  course,  are  absolute, 
necessary,  and  eternal.  There  can  be  no  freedom 
or  choice,  no  new  laws,  or  new  applications  of 
old  laws,  no  reserved  forces,  no  new  creations, 
and  no  miracles.* 

Pantheism,  however,  may  be  divided  into 
physical  and  spiritual.  The  physical,  or  grosser 
form  of  pantheism,  as  in  the  Brahminism  of 
India,  deifies  and  worships  the  visible  universe, 
sun  and  stars,  earth  and  man,  rivers  and  foun 
tains,  beasts  and  insects.  In  such  a  system 
there  can  be  no  positive  sin.  Man  is  God,  as 
an  insect  is  God.  He  proceeds  from,  and  will 
finally  fall  back  into,  the  abyss.  This  kind  of 
pantheism,  among  the  western  nations,  takes  the 

ascribed  to  God.  But  as  involving  freedom,  consciousness,  and  rea 
son,  in  their  absolute  perfection,  it  undoubtedly  can. 

*  Opera,  vol.  i.  p.  208  et  seq.  Spinoza's  views  of  miracles  are  de 
veloped  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  the  Tractattis  Thco.,  Opera,  vol.  iii. 
p.  86,  ct  scq. 


324  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

form  of  materialism,  already  noticed.  It  recog 
nizes  only  the  outward  and  material,  and,  in  our 
mechanical  age,  refuses  to  worship. 

The  spiritual  pantheism  is  that  adopted  by 
some  of  the  idealists  in  Germany  and  elsewhere. 
It  regards  the  outward  universe,  or  the  universe 
of  material  forms,  as  simply  phenomenal  or  ap 
parent.  God,  or  the  interior,  absolute  cause  of 
the  universe,  is  spiritual,  consisting  simply  of 
Being  and  Thought,  or  of  Being  and  Thought 
together,  without  conscious  personality.  Ac 
cording  to  Hegel,  all  we  can  know  is  the  rela 
tions  of  things.  God,  as  absolute,  is  an  infinite 
Abstraction,  that  is,  the  absolute  and  inconceivable 
Essence,  which  he  has  called  Das  Nichts,  (or 
Nothing,)  meaning  by  that,  not  an  absolute  Noth 
ing,  such  as  ordinary  mortals  would  conceive 
the  word  to  mean,  but  an  absolute  Abstraction, 
in  other  words,  Being  or  Thought,  from  which 
all  conceivable  relations  and  conditions  are 
abstracted.  But  in  the  process  of  thought, 
according  to  Hegel,  this  Absolute  passes  into 
reality,  which  is  the  universe.  Both,  indeed, 
are  eternal,  for  the  All  is  only  an  everlasting 
oscillation  between  the  negative  and  the  positive, 
the  absolute  and  the  relative,  the  spiritual  and  the 
concrete.  God,  as  the  eternal  Thought,  which 
lies  back  of  all  change,  comes  to  consciousness 
only  in  man,  on  which  ground  man  is  divine. 


MIRACLES.  325 

His  development  is  the  necessary  progress  of 
all  history,  of  all  religion,  and  morals.  On  this 
basis  Hegel  builds  the  vast  superstructure  of  his 
logical  and  philosophical  system. 

The  apparent  pantheism  of  Schelling,  much 
modified  of  late  years,  differs  from  this  in  many 
particulars,  and  admits,  whether  logically  or  not 
we  do  not  now  say,  of  a  divine  incarnation  and 
atonement,  and,  so  far,  does  homage  to  Chris 
tianity  as  a  supernatural  system. 

It  is  clear,  however,  that  the  theory  of  Hegel, 
adopted,  in  its  fundamental  principles,  by 
Strauss,  Bauer,  and  others  in  Germany,  and 
in  this  country,  to  some  extent,  by  Theodore 
Parker,  R.  W.  Emerson,  and  his  willing  pupil, 
Mr.  Henry  James,  strikes  at  the  very  possibil 
ity  of  a  supernatural  religion,  and  especially  of 
miracles.  It  might  admit,  and  indeed  does 
admit,  of  the  existence  of  Jesus  Christ  as  a  neces 
sary  development  of  the  divine,  in  the  sense 
understood  by  the  Hegelians,  but  not  more  so 
than  any  other  good  man.  Hence  these  specu- 
latists  do  not  deny  the  reality  of  Christ,  as  a 
remarkable  character,  and  author  of  a  beautiful 
system  of  religion  and  morals.  They  only  deny 
him  as  a  supernatural  being,  or  as  God  incarnate.* 

*  This  is  eminently  true  of  Emerson  and  James,  who  have  inter 
woven  the  Hegelian  pantheism  in  their  somewhat  elegant,  but  su 
perficial  lucubrations. 

28 


326  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

It  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  attempt  a  for 
mal  refutation  of  Hegelianisrn.  Indeed,  to  most 
sane  persons  it  refutes  itself.  Its  grounds  and 
conclusions  are  equally  absurd,  though,  as  a 
system,  distinguished  by  vast  logical  power,  and 
occasionally  suggesting  grand  and  comprehensive 
views.* 

If  we  ourselves  are  free  agents,  and  not  mere 
machines,  spiritual  or  animal,  (and  who  at  bot 
tom  can  doubt  this,  that  knows  himself?)  we  are 
compelled,  by  the  constitution  of  our  nature,  to 
regard  God  as  a  free  agent,  self-conscious  and 
self-controlled  ;  and  if  thus  free,  then  creative, 
freely  creative  ;  and  if  freely  creative,  then  capa 
ble  of  intervention  and  miracle.  It  is  not,  indeed, 
for  us  to  say,  what  he  may  or  may  not  do,  in  the 
way  of  supernatural  manifestation  ;  but,  assured 
ly,  the  idea  of  creation,  of  incarnation,  and  miracle, 
ascribed  to  him,  is  neither  impossible  nor  improb 
able.  Indeed,  nothing  would  seem  to  be  more 
probable ;  a  consideration  which  accounts  for 
the  universal  expectation  and  impression  on  the 


*  Hegel  professed  to  construct  his  system  without  assuming  any 
thing,  whether  matter  or  mind,  thought  or  volition.  But  this  was 
impossible.  Unconsciously  to  himself,  he  assumed  his  own  powers 
of  thought.  His  "Das  Nichts,"  though  negative,  involve  the  pos 
itive,  as  a  necessary  idea.  His  abstractions,  then,  must  involve  re 
alities,  that  is,  man  as  an  intelligent,  voluntary  thinker  and  actor  ; 
and  if  man,  then  God,  as  the  free  and  intelligent  Creator  of  the  uni 
verse.  In  this  way  his  system  refutes  itself. 


MIRACLES.  327 

subject.  Admit  the  idea  of  a  personal  God, 
interested  in  man,  and  you  can  admit  easily  all 
the  miracles  of  the  New  Testament. 

In  its  more  naked  character,  pantheism  is  a 
monstrous  and  fatal  error,  and  yet  it  is  only  the 
exaggeration  of  a  great  truth,  namely,  that  God, 
while  superior  to  his  works,  is  not  to  be  consid 
ered  as  separate  from  them.  While  over  all,  he 
is  yet  "  in  all,"  by  a  universal  presence.  Here 
we  behold  him  as  the  all-comprehending  Power, 
the  all-pervading  Wisdom  and  Beauty,  a  thought 
which  brings  him  close  to  the  heart.  But  the 
God  of  Hegel  and  Strauss,  who  comes  to  con 
sciousness  only  in  man,  is  a  monstrosity,  rejected 
alike  by  reason  and  revelation. 

But  while  we  admit  God  as  "  in  all,"  we  in 
stinctively  feel,  all  instinctively  feel,  that  we  our 
selves  are  distinct  personalities,  and  though  de 
rived  from  God  and  even  dependent  upon  him, 
that  we  have  a  will  and  a  purpose,  a  character  and 
a  career  of  our  own.  So,  also,  we  feel  that  the 
external  world  is  not  only  distinct  from  us,  but 
distinct  from  God,  and  consequently  that  God, 
being  himself  a  free  and  omnipotent  agent,  can 
do  as  he  pleases,  in  the  matter  of  incarnation 
and  miracle. 

Yet  as  nature  is  from  God  and  under  God,  all 
his  actings,  however  strange  and  stupendous, 
will  be  in  harmony  with  those  great  laws  through 


328  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

which  he  is  wont  to  act.  These,  however,  have 
already  admitted  of  creations,  of  new  and  won 
drous  beginnings,  changes,  and  developments,  in 
organic  forms  and  animals,  as  Hugh  Miller  and 
others  have  shown  ;  so  that  no  new  creations  or 
beginnings,  whether  in  the  sphere  of  matter  or 
of  mind,  need  occasion  us  any  surprise.  All  we 
want  is  proof  of  the  fact. 

We  apprehend,  however,  that  the  philosophi 
cal  objection  to  miracles,  as  new  creations,  lies 
in  the  attempt  to  conceive  how  something  can 
come  from  nothing.  Those  who  believe  this,  as 
a  simple  fact,  of  course  will  not  feel  the  force  of 
the  objection  ;  for  however  mysterious  the  thing 
may  be,  they  are  compelled  to  suppose  that  all 
created  things  are  made  from  nothing.  But  this 
cannot  be  strictly  or  absolutely  true,  God  him 
self  being  supposed  as  ultimate  cause  or  ultimate 
something;  for  of  course  there  can  be  no  effect 
without  a  cause,  in  which  sense  the  maxim  is 
true,  Ex  nihilo  niliilfit.  God  creates  all  things, 
say  theologians,  from  "  the  word  of  his  power  ;  " 
he  "  speaketh  and  it  is  clone,  he  commandeth 
and  it  standeth  fast ;  "  on  which  ground  miracles 
are  possible.  The  philosopher  might  prefer  to 
say  that  God  creates  all  things  from  or  out  of 
himself;  but  in  saying  this  he  throws  no  new 
light  upon  the  matter.  It  is  simply  admitting 
the  great  principle  of  adequate  cause.  The 


MIRACLES.  329 

mystery  or  the  rationale  of  the  fact  remains  con 
cealed. 

Now,  it  is  on  this  ground  we  urge  not  only 
the  moral  but  the  philosophical  possibility  of  the 
Christian  miracles,  including  the  birth  and  the 
resurrection  of  Christ.  It  can  never  be  shown 
that  they  must  necessarily  be  the  product  of 
nothing,  even  on  the  lower  ground  of  appear 
ances.  While  supernatural  power  came  in  at 
particular  points,  natural  causes,  and  sometimes 
preexistent  materials  and  forces,  were  used. 
The  miraculous  wine,  for  example,  was  a  prod 
uct  from  water,  just  as  the  wine  of  the  grape 
is  a  product  from  natural  elements. 

Christ,  as  a  new  creation,  had  two  terms,  the 
human  and  the  divine  ;  he  was  both  natural  and 
supernatural,  but  not  an  effect  without  a  cause. 
So  also  the  healing  and  restoring  power,  which 
gave  health  to  the  diseased  and  life  to  the  dead, 
was  in  Christ  as  a  cause.  "Virtue  went  out  of 
him."  His  own  resurrection  was  the  effect  of 
his  eternal  divinity,  or  eternally  divine  and  inde 
structible  life.  Thence,  while  he  died  as  to  his 
manhood,  by  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the 
body,  or  the  human  from  the  divine,  he  did  not 
die  as  to  his  spiritual  and  immortal  nature. 
The  union  only  was  suspended.  When  restored 
on  the  third  day,  of  course  he  rose  again.  So 
28* 


330  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

that  the   maxim,   that   "from   nothing   nothing 
comes,"  will  not  apply  here. 

We  add,  fourthly,  that  the  miracles  have  been 
rejected  on  the  mythic  theory. 

Not  content  with  metaphysical  or  even  philo 
logical   objections,    Strauss,   Parker,   and  others 
have  endeavored  to  show  that  all  the  miracles 
are  only  natural   myths,  clustering  around   the 
few  elementary  facts  which   form  the  basis   of 
Christianity.     Because  the  religions  of  most  na 
tions,  as  well  as  many  historical  facts  and  per 
sonages,  in  the  earlier  period  of  their  history,  are 
invested  with  myths  or  legendary  fictions,  it  is 
inferred  that  such  also  must  be  the   case  both 
with  Judaism  and   Christianity.     We   have  al 
ready  considered  this  theory ;  we  will  therefore 
now  limit  ourselves  to  the  remark,  that  though 
the   premises   may  be  admitted,   the  conclusion 
may  be  peremptorily  denied.   Because  there  have 
been  many  false  pretensions  to  freedom,  are  we 
to  conclude  that  there  is  no  such  thing,  or  that 
there  never  can  be  such  a  thing,  as  freedom  ? 
Because  many  histories,  especially  in  their  earlier 
periods,  are  fictitious  and  extravagant,  must  we 
infer  that  all  histories  are  of  the  same  character? 
Because  religion  has  frequently  appeared  in  the 
garb   of  myth   and  poetic  legend,   must  we  ac 
cept  the  conclusion  that  God  cannot  give  us  the 
true  religion  without  snch  appendages? 


MIRACLES.  331 

All  the  ancient  nations,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Hebrews,  were  idolaters.  If,  then,  all  the 
religions  of  such  nations,  in  their  mythical  forms, 
were  false,  may  not  that  of  the  Hebrews  be  true? 
If  other  forms  of  faith,  growing  up  by  a  natural 
process,  and  thence  invested  with  much  human 
error,  were  associated  with  false  or  pretended 
miracles,  may  not  Christianity,  based,  as  Strauss 
and  Parker  are  compelled  to  own,  upon  abso 
lute  and  eternal  truth,  be  associated  with  true 
miracles  ? 

We  might  also  inquire,  How  comes  this  uni 
versal  belief  in  miracles  ?  It  is  a  fact  to  be  ac 
counted  for.  Why  should  all  mankind,  with 
inconsiderable  exceptions,  cherish  the  indelible 
conviction  that  they  must  be  found  somewhere  ? 
It  seems  to  spring  from  an  instinct,  or  an  intui 
tion,  as  deep  and  all-pervading  as  that  which 
gives  them  the  idea  of  God  and  immortality. 
Hence,  instead  of  an  argument  against  mira 
cles,  the  mythic  theory  is  a  presumption  in 
their  favor.  Only  we  must  be  careful  to  distin 
guish  between  the  real  and  the  spurious,  the 
divine  and  the  human.  Both  have  their  char 
acteristics. 

But  the  whole  is  a  question  of  fact ;  and  Strauss, 
unconsciously  dissatisfied  with  his  theory,  has  at 
tacked  the  Christian  miracles,chiefly  on  historical 
and  philological  grounds.  He  has  gathered  togeth- 


332  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

er  all  apparent  discrepancies  and  contradictions, 
to  falsify  their  claims.  After  all,  the  great  histori 
cal  verities,  or  fundamental  facts,  springing  from 
the  supernatural  character  of  Christ,  and  form 
ing  the  essence  or  basis  of  Christianity,  are  left 
untouched.  No  quibbling  with  particulars,  or 
even  the  citation  of  real  difficulties,  can  affect 
the  history  as  a  whole.  It  has  woven  itself,  as 
an  historical  reality,  into  the  very  fabric  of  soci 
ety  ;  there  it  stands,  in  its  divine  and  super 
natural  power,  and  there  it  will  stand  forever. 
The  source  of  a  river  may  be  far  inland,  and 
much  hidden  among  woods  and  hills,  so  that 
some  dispute  may  be  indulged  respecting  the 
localities  of  its  origin,  and  particularly  as  to  the 
individual  streams  which  have  swelled  its  cur 
rent  ;  but  it  has  originated  among  those  woods 
and  hills,  and  yonder  it  comes,  rolling  its  mighty 
tide  of  waters  to  the  distant  sea. 

Finally,  the  miracles  have  been  assaulted  on 
the  ground  of  experience. 

Assuming  that  a  miracle  is  "  a  violation  of 
the  laws  of  nature,"  which  laws  "  are  established 
by  a  firm  and  unalterable  experience,"  u  there 
arises,"  says  Hume,  "  the  contest  of  two  oppo 
site  experiences,  or  proof  against  proof ;  "  so 
that  "the  proof  against  a  miracle  from  the  nature 
of  the  facts  is  as  complete  as  any  argument 
from  experience  can  possibly  be  imagined.  On 


MIKACLES.  333 

this  ground  he  maintains  that  "  no  amount  of 
testimony  can  prove  a  miracle  ; "  which  is  pre 
cisely  the  same  thing  as  to  maintain  that  a  mir 
acle  is  impossible  in  the  nature  of  things.  That 
this  was  his  real  theory,  can  admit  of  no  ques 
tion.  Speaking  of  certain  alleged  miracles,  he 
says,  "  What  have  we  to  oppose  to  such  a  cloud 
of  witnesses,  but  the  absolute  impossibility  or  mi 
raculous  nature  of  the  fact."  The  sum  total,  then, 
of  Hume's  argument  is,  that  a  miracle  is  to  be 
rejected  because  it  is  a  miracle,  assuming  it  to  be 
"  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature,"  and  thence 
impossible.  But  he  forgets  his  own  principles, 
and  in  the  course  of  his  argument,  actually  admits 
that  there  may  be  miracles  of  such  a  kind  as  to 
admit  of  proof  from  human  testimony  ;  only  he 
will  not  allow  them  in  connection  with  religion  ; 
and  why  ?  Because  "  mankind  have  been  so 
frequently  imposed  upon  by  pretensions  of  that 
sort !  "  Thus  he  changes  his  ground  and  aban 
dons  his  argument. 

That  miracles  are  possible,  not  as  a  violation 
of  the  laws  of  nature,  but  as  a  special  mani 
festation  of  a  Power  beyond  the  resources  of 
nature,  or  the  laws  which  control  its  movements, 
must  be  conceded  by  every  one  who  believes  in 
a  God.  Even  Theodore  Parker,  who  more  than 
once  avails  himself  of  Hume's  sophism,  admits 
their  possibility.  He  says,  "  Discourse  of  Mat- 


334  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

ters  pertaining  to  Religion,"  p.  254,  "  There  is 
no  antecedent  objection  nor  metaphysical  im 
possibility  in  the  case,"  namely,  that  a  miracle 
may  be  what  he  calls  "  a  transgression  of  all 
law  known  or  knowable  by  man,  but  yet  in  con 
formity  with  some  law  out  of  our  reach."  "  Fi 
nite  man,"  he  adds,  "  not  only  does  not,  but  can 
not,  understand  all  the  modes  of  God's  action, 
all  the  laws  of  his  being.  There  may  be  higher 
beings,  to  whom  God  reveals  himself  in  modes 
that  we  can  never  know  ;  for  we  cannot  tell  the 
secrets  of  God,  nor  determine  a  priori  the  modes 
of  his  manifestation.  In  this  sense  a  miracle  is 
possible.  The  world  is  a  perpetual  miracle  of 
this  sort.  Nature  is  the  art  of  God ;  can  we 
fully  comprehend  it  ?  Life,  being,  creation, 
duration,  do  we  understand  these  actual  things  ? 
How  then  can  we  say  to  the  Infinite,  '  Hitherto 
shalt  thou  come,  but  no  farther  ;  there  are  no 
more  ways  \vherein  thy  being  acts '  ?  Man  is 
not  the  measure  of  God." 

We  will  not  stop  here  to  remark  upon  the  latent 
argument  against  miracles,  even  in  this  conces 
sion,  by  the  ambiguous  use  of  the  expression, 
transgression  of  the  laws  of  nature,  much  the 
same  as  Hume's  "  violation  of  the  laws  of  na 
ture,"  upon  which  Mr.  Parker  seems  to  argue, 
in  other  parts  of  his  book  ;  we  will  take  the  pas 
sage  as  it  stands,  cordially  thanking  him  for  his 


MIRACLES.  335 

important  admission  ;  for  now  the  only  question 
that  remains  touches  the  evidence  of  the  fact.* 
Mr.  Parker  himself  momentarily  sees  this,  and 
immediately  addresses  himself  to  the  evidence, 
which  he  demolishes  (in  his  own  view)  by  a  few 
dexterous  blows.  But  it  is  not  so  easily  got  rid 
of.  Mere  assertions  will  not  disprove  it.  Dec 
lamation  will  not  diminish  its  power.  Pre 
tended  miracles,  those,  for  example,  of  the  dark 
ages,  may  seem  to  have  as  much  and  even  more 
evidence ;  but  this  is  a  fancy  easily  disposed  of. 
It  is  appearance  only,  and  may  deceive  the  un 
wary,  but  not  thoughtful,  well-informed  men. 
No  one  in  the  slightest  degree  acquainted  with 
legendary  or  monkish  miracles  will,  for  a  mo 
ment,  bring  them,  either  as  to  their  nature  or  their 
evidence,  into  comparison  with  the  miracles  of 
Christ.  Fifty  witnesses,  in  a  court  of  justice, 
may  testify  on  one  side,  and  their  evidence  may 
seem  to  overpower  and  utterly  extinguish  the 
testimony  of  two  or  three  simple  and  candid 
men,  on  the  other  side  ;  but  the  instant  their 


*  After  all,  we  apprehend  that  Mr.  Parker's  concession  is  a  mere 
logical  or  rhetorical  ruse  ;  for  he  must  ultimately  base  his  denial  of 
miracles  on  their  impossibility.  Hence  in  his  Two  Sermons,  1852, 
he  makes  the  following  bold  statement :  "  I  do  not  believe  there 
ever  was  a  miracle,  or  ever  will  be;  every  where  I  find  law  —  the 
constant  mode  of  operation  of  the  infinite  God.  I  do  not  believe 
in  the  miraculous  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament,  or  the  New 
Testament,"  &c. 


336  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

true  character  and  the  circumstances  of  the  case 
are  fairly  presented,  the  evidence  of  the  fifty 
vanishes  into  thin  air,  while  that  of  the  two  or 
three  is  established  forever.  Everything,  in  such 
a  question,  depends  upon  character  and  circum 
stances.  The  thousand  and  one  stories,  then, 
of  foolish  monks  or  garrulous  old  women,  —  nay, 
more,  the  solemn  depositions  of  learned  and 
dignified  bishops,  besotted  by  superstition,  — may 
well  be  dismissed  from  the  account.  In  nothing 
but  their  name  do  they  bear  the  slightest  com 
parison  with  the  divine  mission  or  supernatural 
works  of  Jesus  Christ. 

But  how  is  it  with  this  matter  of  experience  ? 
There  seems  to  be  something  in  it,  after  all. 
What  are  its  nature  and  bearings  on  the  ques 
tion  at  issue  ?  If  the  word,  as  used  by  Hume, 
means  any  thing,  it  must  mean  our  individual 
experience,  or  the  experience  of  the  race.  If  it 
means  our  individual  experience,  then  it  makes 
that  which  is  necessarily  limited  and  imperfect 
the  standard  of  all  possible  events  —  an  assump 
tion  utterly  preposterous.  If  it  means  the  expe 
rience  of  the  race,  including  that  of  the  first 
Christians,  the  apostles  of  Christ,  and  the  writers 
of  the  gospel  histories,  then  it  takes  for  granted 
the  very  point  to  be  proved.  For  we  maintain 
that  miracles  were  matters  of  experience  in  the 
days  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  Hume,  how- 


MIRACLES.  337 

ever,  was  too  acute  to  mean  any  thing  more 
than  the  general  conviction  of  mankind,  derived, 
as  he  thought,  from  experience,  with  reference  to 
what  may  be  termed  the  uniform  action  of  the 
ordinary  laws  of  nature,  in  the  case  of  miracles, 
partly  suspended  or  controlled,  as  we  suppose, 
by  some  higher  power  or  law  beyond  our  knowl 
edge.  But  nature  can  never  be  contrary  to  God, 
nor  can  God  be  contrary  to  nature ;  consequently 
an  inferior  law  can  never  be  contrary  to  the  action 
of  that  higher  law  by  which  it  is  controlled.  Even 
now  the  law  of  life  controls,  sometimes  suspends, 
the  action  of  chemical  laws ;  but  they  are  never 
contrary  to  each  other.  In  Christianity,  life  is 
restored  to  the  dead.  Lazarus,  for  example, 
rises  from  the  tomb  at  the  command  of  Christ. 
That  divine  power,  then,  or  power  of  life,  by  vir 
tue  of  which  this  takes  place,  may  be  represented 
as  the  higher,  or  unknown  law,  which,  in  this 
instance,  controls  the  ordinary  laws  governing 
organized  beings.  But  there  is  no  real  opposi 
tion  between  them,  no  violation,  transgression  or 
perversion  of  any  thing.  A  new  and  stupen 
dous  power  has  intervened,  and  a  new  and  stu 
pendous  phenomenon  is  the  result.  This  is 
ascribed  directly  to  God  himself,  the  great  origi 
nal  Life-giver,  who,  when  the  darkness  of  prime 
val  night  brooded  upon  chaos,  said,  "  Let  there 
be  light,  and  there  was  light." 
29 


338  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

Thus  the  uniformity  and  immutability  of  na 
ture  and  its  laws  are  not  absolute,  but  relative ; 
relative,  we  mean,  to  God,  who  presides  over 
them  with  the  supremacy  of  a  master.  Their 
uniformity  for  five  thousand  or  ten  thousand 
years  is  no  proof  that,  previous  or  subsequent  to 
that  period,  a  change  was  or  may  not  be  possible. 
In  a  word,  it  does  not  follow,  from  the  general 
uniformity  of  nature's  laws,  that  God,  "  whose 
they  are,  and  whom  they  serve,"  may  not  inter 
pose  at  specific  eras,  by  means  of  new  creations, 
regenerations,  and  miracles.  To  deny  this  would 
make  matter  eternal,  and  God  a  mere  natural 
and  blind  necessity,  without  freedom  or  choice. 

Our  experience,  however,  of  the  general  uni 
formity  of  nature's  laws,  leads  'us,  of  course,  to 
reject  all  pretensions  to  miracles,  on  ordinary  or 
frivolous  occasions,  or  on  such  occasions  as  a 
divine  intervention  cannot  be  supposed.  "  Lying 
wonders,"  in  the  garb  of  miracles,  are  essentially 
incredible  ;  for  they  are  derogatory,  not  only  to 
the  laws  of  nature,  but  to  the  character  of  God. 
Their  external  evidence  or  testimony  may  seem 
imposing,  but  it  is  never  really  adequate.  Thor 
oughly  sifted,  it  will  ever  be  found  partial,  selfish, 
and  contradictory.  It  may  be  allowed,  then, 
that  no  amount  of  such  testimony  can  prove  such 
a  miracle.  A  true  miracle  must  have  an  ade 
quate  cause,  and  that  cause  God.  And  as  it  is 


MIRACLES.  339 

fair  to  assume  that  God  will  always  act  consist 
ently  with  himself,  it  follows  that  a  true  miracle 
will  only  be  performed  for  a  sufficient  reason,  or 
with  reference  to  an  adequate  purpose.  So  that 
mere  portents  and  prodigies,  monkish  marvels, 
and  mesmeric  wonders,  whatever  other  character 
they  have,  may  be  rejected  as  divine  miracles, 
without  further  examination.  God,  we  repeat 
it,  will  always  act  like  himself;  and  although  we 
know  little  of  his  essence  or  mode  of  working, 
we  know  enough  of  his  character  to  be  certain 
that  all  his  works  will  be  holy,  just,  and  good, 
with  a  certain  air  of  simplicity  and  majesty, 
fitly  styled  "  divine."  Consequently,  when  he 
does  interpose  by  miracles,  as  in  the  first  act  of 
creation,  when  "  the  morning  stars  sang  together, 
and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy,"  or  in 
the  new  spiritual  creation  ascribed  to  Jesus 
Christ,  the  occasion  is  worthy  of  his  infinite 
majesty  and  grace,  while  the  results  are  the  most 
stupendous  and  beautiful  that  can  be  conceived. 
For  once  more  the  angels  sing,  "  Glory  to  God 
in  the  highest,  on  earth  peace,  and  good  will  to 
men." 

Thus  Hume's  suggestion,  misapplied  and 
abused,  as  an  argument  against  the  supernatu 
ral  character  of  Christianity,  after  all,  has  some 
thing  good  in  it,  as  it  supplies  us  with  this  prac 
tical  rule,  that  our  experience  of  the  uniformity 


340  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

of  nature's  laws  ought  to  make  us  suspicious 
of  all  miraculous  pretensions  on  ordinary,  inade 
quate,  or  frivolous  occasions.  We  ought  never 
to  forget,  however,  that  the  spurious  proves  the 
possible  existence  of  the  genuine,  the  false  of  the. 
true.  Shadows  cannot  last  forever.  Lux  post 
nubila.  At  last  the  morning  of  a  heavenly  day 
dawns  upon  the  nations.  The  kingdom  comes. 
The  new  creation,  all  aglow  with  the  light  of 
God,  bursts  upon  the  world.* 

To  enforce  our  meaning,  and  bring  the  matter 
to  a  practical  issue,  take  the  following  illustra 
tions  :  Were  some  one  of  ordinary  credibility 
to  inform  us  that  a  person  apparently  dead  by 
drowning  had  been  resuscitated  by  the  means 
ordinarily  used  to  restore  suspended  animation, 
we  should  believe  it  at  once,  without  further  in 
quiry,  for  the  thing  comes  within  the  scope  of 
ordinary  experience,  and  is  perfectly  natural  in 
the  circumstances  supposed.  Were  the  same 
person  to  inform  us  that  he  had  just  seen,  alive 
and  well,  a  friend  known  to  be  dead  and  buried 
several  days,  we  should  probably  be  unwilling 

*  Parker  and  others  lay  great  stress  upon  the  assumption  that 
more  evidence  is  required  to  prove  a  strange  or  miraculous  event 
than  one  of  an  ordinary  kind.  But  that  depends  altogether  upon 
circumstances.  In  our  humble  opinion,  it  is  not  so  much  a  question 
of  quantity  as  of  quality.  Something,  too,  depends  upon  the  mind 
to  be  convinced.  All  the  evidence  in  the  world  will  not  satisfy  some 


MIRACLES.  341 

to  credit  the  assertion.  We  should  conclude 
that  there  must  be  some  mistake  in  the  case, 
for  the  dead  cannot  rise,  under  the  action  of 
the  ordinary  laws  of  nature.  For  the  produc 
tion  of  such  a  result,  the  exertion  of  a  divine 
power,  equal  to  creation,  is  needed,  which  can 
not  be  expected,  except  at  some  grand  or  pe 
culiar  crisis.  If,  however,  four,  five,  a  dozen 
honest  and  competent  witnesses  were  to  testify 
to  the  occurrence  of  a  similar  fact,  we  should 
deem  it  quite  extraordinary ;  still,  we  should  sus- 
pei\d  our  judgment  till  the  matter  should  receive 
a  thorough  investigation.  There  is,  indeed,  no 
a  priori  impossibility  in  the  supposition  that  God 
should  raise  the  dead,  but  certainly  there  is  a 
high  moral  presumption  against  the  exercise  of 
such  a  power  on  ordinary  occasions.  Hence  our 
hesitation  and  doubt,  justified  alike  by  religion, 
philosophy,  and  common  sense ;  on  which 
ground  it  may  be  assumed,  that  all  pretensions 
to  miracles,  on  common  or  frivolous  occasions, 
are  essentially  incredible.  Nay,  we  may  go 
farther,  and  maintain  that,  in  all  probability, 
miracles,  as  special  divine  interventions,  equal  to 
creative  acts,  can  be  expected  only  once  or  twice 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  that  is,  at  those  pe 
culiar  and  critical  epochs  when  Jehovah  must 
interfere  by  special  divine  manifestations  for  the 
29* 


342  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

establishment  of  a  true  religion,  or  the  introduc 
tion  of  a  new  moral  creation  among  men. 

We  have  supposed  an  imaginary  case.  Let 
us  now  describe  a  real  one.  The  world,  by  wis 
dom,  knew  not  God.  The  leading  nations  had 
outgrown  their  pagan  creeds,  but  could  not  re 
place  them  with  a  higher  and  purer  faith.  They 
were  departing  farther  and  farther  from  truth  and 
duty.  Darkness  covered  the  earth,  and  gross 
darkness  the  people.  New  forms  of  scepticism, 
or  of  superstition,  were  eating  into  their  hearts, 
yet  they  were  longing  madly  and  vainly  for  some 
heavenly  light.  An  obvious  crisis  or  turning- 
point  had  arrived  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
The  nations  were  expectant.  All  nature  was 
prepared  for  the  advent  of  God.  It  had  been 
predicted  in  certain  ancient  books,  that  at  such  a 
time  a  Redeemer  should  come,  in  lowliness  and 
meekness,  yet  with  transcendent  wisdom  and 
mighty  power,  to  regenerate  souls. 

In  these  circumstances,  a  personage,  claiming 
the  character  and  function  referred  to,  makes  his 
appearance  in  the  Holy  Land.  His  aspect  and 
manners  correspond  to  the  idea  of  a  divine 
teacher.  He  speaks  on  the  subject  of  religion 
and  morals,  of  life  and  immortality,  as  man  has 
never  before  spoken.  His  purity  is  unquestioned, 
his  benevolence  expansive  and  wonderful.  He 
penetrates  the  secrets  of  nature,  of  man,  and  of 


MIRACLES.  343 

God,  as  by  an  intuition,  and  develops  in  lan 
guage  of  amazing  simplicity  and  force  a  system 
of  absolute  religion  and  morals.  In  every  re 
spect,  he  transcends  his  age,  and  indeed  all  ages. 
Simple  and  august,  gentle,  yet  severe  and  com 
manding,  he  goes  forth  to  do  and  to  suffer  the 
will  of  God,  supplying  not  only  in  his  creed,  but- 
in  his  person,  a  splendid  illustration  of  the  power 
of  goodness,  infinite  and  immortal.  He  performs 
many  wonderful  works,  and  suffers  much  from 
the  persecution  of  the  ungodly.  He  predicts  his 
own  death,  looking  forward  to  it  as  a  great  spir 
itual  necessity,  with  a  sublime  and  mysterious 
confidence.  At  last  he  dies  by  the  hand  of  the 
public  executioner,  praying  for  his  enemies,  and 
exclaiming,  "  It  is  finished  !  "  But  previous  to 
this,  he  had  predicted  not  only  his  death,  but  also 
his  resurrection,  as  the  necessary  completion  of 
his  career  on  earth  and  the  crowning  proof  of  his 
divinity.  His  disciples,  indeed,  are  incredulous 
of  the  fact,  and  give  up  all  for  lost.  Their  hopes 
are  buried  in  his  tomb.  His  enemies,  aware  of 
his  predictions,  secure  his  sepulchre  by  the  gov 
ernment  seal  and  a  guard  of  Roman  soldiers. 
But  on  the  third  day  the  sepulchre  is  empty ;  the 
body  of  Jesus  is  gone.  He  appears,  however,  to 
some  of  his  disciples,  not  once,  but  again  and 
again,  and  in  circumstances  admitting  of  no  de 
lusion.  At  first,  some  of  them  doubt,  but  subse- 


344  CHRIST    IK    HISTORY. 

quently  obtain  ocular,  nay,  more  tangible  demon 
stration  of  the  fact ;  so  that  all  are  entirely  sat 
isfied  as  to  the  fact  of  his  resurrection.  Such,  at 
least,  is  their  testimony —  a  testimony  which  they 
bear  before  the  judicial  tribunals  and  people  of 
the  Jews,  and  which  they  repeat  in  all  conceiv 
able  circumstances  to  their  dying  day,  in  spite, 
too,  of  persecution,  contumely,  and  wrong.  At 
last  they  behold  him  ascend  from  the  earth ;  in 
other  words,  pass  into  the  spiritual  and  immor 
tal  sphere ;  in  parting,  they  receive  his  blessing, 
filling  them  with  unutterable  peace.  His  spirit 
of  might  and  love  takes  possession  of  their 
hearts,  and  they  go  forth  in  his  name,  to  found 
among  men  a  kingdom  of  righteousness  and 
love. 

Here  every  thing  is  natural  and  becoming. 
The  testimony  is  ample  and  satisfactory.  It  is 
uniform  and  uncontradicted.  The  occasion  is 
the  most  august  and  thrilling  in  the  history  of 
the  world.  The  result  is  stupendous  and  beau 
tiful.  Life  and  immortality  are  brought  to 
light,— 

"The  gates  of  paradise 
Stand  open  wide  on  Calvary." 

We  have  spoken  of  miracles.  After  all,  Christ 
and  his  gospel  may  be  represented  as  but  one 
miracle,  the  miracle  of  eternal  love,  first  em 
bodied  in  Christ,  and  then  embodied  among 


MIRACLES.  345 

men.  He  brought  heaven  to  earth  ;  and  it  is 
this  which  is  now  struggling  for  supremacy  in 
the  world.  The  miracle  stands  before  us  now, 
modifying  the  interior  spirit  and  the  historic  life 
of  man,  transforming  individual  hearts,  and  pen 
etrating,  as  a  leaven  of  regeneration,  into  the 
great  mass  of  fallen  humanity.  God  has  smit 
ten  the  rock  in  the  far  wilderness,  and  the  streams 
are  flowing  yet  to  refresh  the  weary  millions. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

CHRIST  IN  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCH. 

As  a  system,  Christianity  had  not  assumed  a 
complete  form  till  after  the  resurrection  of  Christ. 
Then  all  things  were  prepared  for  its  full  devel 
opment  and  progress  in  the  world.  Rejected  by 
the  mass  of  the  Jews,  it  was  lodged  as  a  hidden 
leaven  in  a  few  simple  hearts,  who,  all  at  once, 
show  themselves  bold,  resolute,  resistless,  as  if 
inspired,  as  indeed  they  were,  by  a  supernatural 
power.  Fifty  days  after  the  crucifixion,  the 
apostles  began,  with  a  commanding  earnestness 
to  which  previously  they  were  strangers,  to  exe 
cute  the  commission  of  their  divine  Teacher  — 
"  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature."  This  they  did,  first  at  Jeru 
salem,  the  very  scene  of  our  Savior's  degrada 
tion,  and  the  last  on  earth,  one  would  suppose, 
in  which  such  a  commission  could  be  executed 
with  success.  But  they  claimed  to  be  filled  with 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  spoke  the  word  with  life- 
giving  eloquence.  Fearlessly  they  charged  home 
upon  their  countrymen  the  guilt  of  crucifying 
the  Son  of  God,  "the  Lord  of  glory,"  at  the 

(346) 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  347 

same  time  proclaiming  to  them  the  "  glad 
tidings  "  of  reconciliation  and  eternal  life.  This 
was  the  constant  burden  of  their  testimony, 
the  great  end  of  their  labors.  It  was  as  a 
power  of  life,  of  renovation,  reunion,  and  eter 
nal  joy  that  they  announced  Christianity  to 
the  world ;  the  key  note  of  which  had  been 
struck  by  angel  voices  on  the  plains  of  Beth 
lehem.  Not  as  a  philosophy,  but  as  a  fact ;  not 
as  a  policy,  but  as  a  power,  superhuman  and 
divine,  did  they  proclaim  it  to  all.  Calmly  they 
pointed,  first  to  the  crucifixion,  and  then  to  the 
resurrection  of  Christ,  universally  known  and 
acknowledged  as  the  ground  of  their  testimony, 
while  affectionately  and  tenderly,  as  if  angel 
hearts  had  been  given  them,  they  besought  men 
to  be  reconciled  to  God.  As  a  consequence  of 
this,  no  less  than  three  thousand  persons  were 
converted  and  added  to  their  number  in  a 
single  day.  Subdued  by  a  power  which  they 
ascribed  to  God,  they  repented,  believed  ;  and 
hence  they  were  baptized  in  the  name  of  the 
crucified  Redeemer.  Soon  their  number  was 
swelled  to  five  thousand ;  and  at  the  expira 
tion  of  a  year  and  a  half,  even  while  the  labors 
of  the  apostles  were  confined  to  Jerusalem  and 
its  vicinity,  multitudes,  both  of  men  and  women, 
had  received  the  truth,  and  "  a  great  company 
of  the  priests  were  obedient  to  the  faith." 


348  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

At  this  time  the  converts  were  scattered  abroad 
by  violent  persecution,  and  they  went  every  where 
preaching  the  word.  Though  "  the  Master  "  was 
gone,  so  far  as  his  bodily  presence  was  concerned, 
his  divine  spirit  of  love  and  power  was  with 
them.  As  Christ  died  blessing  his  executioners, 
so  died  the  proto-martyr  Stephen.  Both  con 
quered  agony  and  death  by  the  might  of  a  super 
natural  charity;  and  this  was  the  Heaven-kindled 
flame  which  the  first  disciples  carried  over  Judea 
and  the  neighboring  countries.  They  travelled 
as  far  as  Phoenicia,  Cyprus,  and  Antioch  ;  and  in 
less  than  three  years,  churches  were  established 
in  Judea,  Samaria,  and  Galilee. 

During  this  time,  however,  Christianity  had 
been  preached  to  none  but  Hebrews.  Two  years 
afterwards  it  was  proclaimed  to  "  the  Gentiles," 
and  before  the  thirtieth  year  from  the  death  of 
Christ,  the  triumphs  of  the  cross  had  extended 
to  every  part  of  Asia  the  Less,  the  isles  of  the 
./Egean  Sea,  to  a  large  portion  of  Greece,  and 
even  to  Rome.  At  these  places  the  converts  are 
described  as  "  a  great  number,"  "  great  multi 
tudes,"  "  much  people."  They  were  especially 
numerous  at  Antioch  and  Ephesus.  During  the 
two  years'  residence  of  Paul  at  the  latter  city, 
"  all  Asia,"  it  is  said,  "  heard  the  word  of  the 
Lord,"  meaning  by  the  term  "  Asia,"  according 
to  the  ancient,  and  especially  the  Roman  use  of 


THE   PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  349 

it,  the  beautiful  and  populous  region,  which  lay 
eastward  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  occu 
pied  a  considerable  portion  of  what  has  been 
more  recently  designated  Asia  Minor.  So  nu 
merous  were  the  converts  in  Ephesus  that  a  sin 
gle  class  of  them,  who  had  dealt  in  magic,  burned 
their  books  and  implements  to  the  value  of  fifty 
thousand  pieces  of  silver,  "  so  mightily  grew  the 
word  of  God  and  prevailed."  * 

In  Jerusalem  alone  there  were  "  many  myri 
ads,"  or  many  "  tens  of  thousands  "  of  believers. 
They  multiplied  there,  and  in  the  adjacent  re 
gions  constantly,  and  no  power  of  opposition  or 
persecution  could  retard  their  progress.  Their 
faith  and  joy  struck  the  people.  Their  simplicity 
and  devotion,  their  freedom  and  liberality,  gave 
them  power  over  the  minds  of  serious  and  can 
did  men.  Miracles  of  life,  especially  in  the  spir 
itual  sphere,  every  where  indicated  the  presence  of 
the  Divinity,  once  incarnated  in  the  body  of  Jesus, 
now  enshrined  as  "  Lord  and  King  "  in  the  bosom 
of  the  church.  Baptized  "  in  the  spirit,"  they  were 
one  —  one  in  their  faith  and  life,  one  in  their  or 
ganization  and  action.  When  necessary,  they 
had  all  things  common  ;  they  loved  one  another, 
they  pitied  the  poor,  they  sought  the  salvation 
of  men,  they  conquered  evil  with  good,  and 

*  These  statements,  as  will  be  obvious  to  all,  are  made  on  the  au 
thority  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

30 


350  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

went  forth,  at  the   hazard  of  life,  to  the  moral 
conquest  of  the  world. 

Thirty  years  from  the  day  of  Pentecost,  or  the 
inauguration  of  the  church  by  the  baptism  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  Christians,  during  the  persecution 
under  Nero,  were  quite  numerous  even  in  Rome; 
for  Tacitus  says,  that  "  a  great  multitude  "  of 
them  were  seized.*  In  the  days  of  Trajan,  not 
more  than  seventy  years  after,  Christianity  had 
spread  so  extensively  throughout  the  Roman 
empire,  that  in  many  places  the  heathen  temples 
were  deserted.  Pliny  the  younger,  governor  of 
Pontus  in  Bithynia,  says,  in  his  well-known  let 
ter  to  the  Emperor  Trajan,  "  that  many,  of  all 


*  Tacitus  obviously  was  ignorant  of  the  character  and  claims  of 
the  first  Christians.  His  testimony  to  their  numbers,  however,  is 
clear  and  express.  Narrating  the  facts  of  the  burning  of  Rome  by 
Nero,  which  the  tyrant  charged  upon  the  Christians,  Tacitus,  after 
stating  that  they  had  derived  their  name  from  Christ,  (or  Chrestus, 
as  he  writes  it,)  who,  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  had  suffered  death, 
under  the  sentence  of  the  procurator  Pontius  Pilate,  adds,  "  For 
a  while  this  dire  superstition  was  checked  ;  but  it  again  burst  forth, 
and  not  only  spread  itself  over  Judea,  the  first  seat  of  the  mischiev 
ous  sect,  but  was  even  introduced  into  Rome,  the  common  asylum, 
which  receives  and  protects  whatever  is  impure,  whatever  is  atro 
cious.  The  confessions  of  those  who  were  seized  discovered  a  vast 
multitude  (the  expression  is  ingcns  multitude)  of  their  accomplices  ; 
and  they  were  all  convicted,  not  so  much  for  the  crime  of  setting 
fire  to  the  city  as  for  their  hatred  to  mankind."  It  will  thus  be 
seen,  not  only  from  the  expression  "  vast  multitude,"  but  also 
from  the  expressions  "  dire  superstition,"  "  checked,"  "  burst  forth," 
that  the  increase  of  Christians,  even  in  Rome,  must  have  been  great 
and  striking. 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  351 

ages  and  of  every  rank,  were  accused  to  him  of 
being  Christians  ;  "  and  adds,  much  in  the  style 
of  Tacitus,  whose  precision  in  the  use  of  lan 
guage  is  the  admiration  of  scholars,  "that  the 
contagion  of  this  superstition  "  (as  if  it  spread 
with  the  rapidity  of  a  pestilence)  "had  seized 
not  the  cities  only,  but  the  smaller  towns  also,  and 
the  open  country ;  "  so  that  "  few  victims  were 
oilered  for  sacrifice,  and  the  temples  of  the  gods 
were  almost  deserted." 

There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  fact  that 
about  the  close  of  the  first  century,  say  sixty  or 
seventy  years  from  the  ascension  of  Christ, 
Christianity  had  penetrated,  with  more  or  less 
success,  into  every  part  of  the  Roman  empire, 
the  population  of  which  could  not  be  less  than  a 
hundred  and  twenty  millions.  It  was  planted 
in  the  cities  of  Rome  and  Carthage,  in  Athens 
and  Alexandria,  in  Ephesus  and  Antioch,  in 
Damascus,  and  even  in  Babylon  ;  nay,  more,  it 
had  reached,  if  we  may  credit  the  traditions  of 
the  fathers,  as  far  as  Spain  on  the  one  hand  and 
India  on  the  other.  Christians  were  to  be  num 
bered  by  thousands  in  Palestine  and  Arabia,  in 
Italy  and  Egypt,  in  Greece  and  Asia  the  Less. 
Justin  Martyr,  who  flourished  in  the  first  half  of 
the  second  century,  describes  the  extent  of  Chris 
tianity  in  the  following  terms:  "There  is  not 
a  nation  either  of  Greek,  or  barbarian,  or  any 


352  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

other  name,  even  of  those  who  wander  in  tribes, 
or  live  in  tents,  among  whom  prayers  and  thanks 
givings  are  not  offered  to  the  Father  and  Creator 
of  the  universe  in  the  name  of  the  crucified 
Jesus."  So  also  Clemens  of  Alexandria,  a  little 
later,  says,  "  The  philosophers  were  confined 
to  Greece,  and  to  their  particular  retainers  ;  but 
the  doctrine  of  Christianity  did  not  remain  in 
Judea,  but  is  spread  through  the  whole  world, 
in  every  nation,  and  village,  and  city,  converting 
both  whole  houses  and  separate  individuals, 
having  already  brought  over  to  the  truth  not  a 
few  of  the  philosophers  themselves.  If  the 
Greek  philosophy  is  interdicted  by  law,  it  imme 
diately  disappears  ;  whereas,  though,  from  the 
first  appearance  of  Christianity,  kings  and  ty 
rants,  governors  and  presidents,  with  their  whole 
train,  and  the  populace  on  their  side,  have  en 
deavored  with  their  whole  force  to  exterminate 
it,  yet  doth  it  flourish  more  and  more."  The 
following  is  the  testimony  of  Tertullian,  who 
lived  in  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era. 
Addressing  those  who  governed  the  Roman  em 
pire,  he  says,  "  We  are  but  of  yesterday,  but 
we  have  filled  every  thing  that  is  yours,  cities, 
islands,  castles,  free  towns,  council  halls,  the  very 
camps,  all  classes  of  men,  the  palace,  the  senate, 
the  forum.  "We  have  left  you  nothing  but  your 
temples.  We  can  number  your  armies;  there 


THE   PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  353 

are  more  Christians  in  a  single  province.  Even 
if  unequal  in  force,  is  there  any  war  for  which 
we,  who  so  readily  submit  to  death,  should  not 
be  prepared  and  prompt,  did  not  our  religion 
teach  us  to  be  slain  rather  than  to  slay  ?  Un 
armed  and  without  rebellion,  should  we  only 
separate  from  you,  we  might  thus  fight  against 
you,  by  inflicting  the  injury  you  might  suffer 
from  divorce.  If  we;  such  a  multitude  of  men, 
were  to  break  away  from  you,  retiring  into  some 
remote  corner  of  the  world,  your  government 
would  be  covered  with  shame  at  the  loss  of  so 
many  citizens,  whoever  they  might  be.  The 
very  desertion  would  punish  you.  Without 
doubt  you  would  be  terrified  at  your  solitude, 
at  the  silence  and  stupor  of  all  things,  as  if  the 
world  were  dead.  You  would  have  to  look 
about  for  such  subjects."  It  may  be  said  that 
this,  from  the  fiery  Tertullian,  is  the  language  of 
rhetorical  exaggeration.  Be  it  so.  After  all,  it 
must  have  rested  upon  some  basis  of  fact,  to 
give  it  even  the  semblance  of  force ;  for  as  it  has 
been  well  remarked,  "  Tertullian  was  a  writer  of 
too  much  acuteness  and  eloquence  to  suffer  the 
boldness  and  vehemence  of  his  language  to 
pass  those  limits,  beyond  which  their  only  effect 
must  have  been  to  expose  him  to  derision.*" 

*  Dr.  Andrews  Norton,  who,  in  the  first  volume  of  his  work  on  the 
Genuineness  of  the  Gospels,  has  discussed  this  subject,  especially 

30* 


354  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Nor  is  this  the  only  occasion  on  which  Tertullian 
asserts  the  great  fact  here  referred  to.  The  fol 
lowing,  as  it  relates  to  specific  facts,  is,  if  pos 
sible,  more  striking  than  the  quotation  already 
made.  He  is  addressing  Scapula,  the  proconsul 
of  Africa.  "  When  Arrius  Antoninus  undertook 
to  persecute  the  Christians,  all  of  that  persuasion 
immediately  presented  themselves  before  his  tri 
bunal.  Then  he,  after  ordering  a  few  for  execu 
tion,  said  to  the  rest,  *  Wretched  people,  if  you 
wish  to  die,  there  are  precipices  and  ropes  enough 
to  be  had.'  —  If  thou  wert  inclined  to  do  this 
here,  [in  Africa,]  how  wouldst  thou  dispose  of  so 
many  thousands,  as  well  men  as  women,  per 
sons  of  both  sexes,  of  all  ages,  of  all  ranks,  pre 
senting  themselves  to  thee  ?  How  many  fires, 
how  many  swords  wouldst  thou  need  ?  What 
would  Carthage  herself,  now  about  to  be  deci 
mated  by  thee,  have  to  endure,  when  every  one 
should  see  among  the  sufferers  his  relations  and 
friends ;  when  he  might  see  there,  perhaps,  and 
by  thy  order,  dignified  men  and  matrons,  and  all 
the  principal  persons  of  the  city,  the  relations  and 
friends  even  of  thy  own  friends  !  Spare,  there 
fore,  thyself,  if  not  us ;  spare  Carthage,  if  not 
thyself.  Finally,  those  whom  thou  consider- 
est  as  thy  masters,  are  men,  and  they  too  will 

in  opposition  to  the  views  of  Gibbon,  with  great  candor  and 
ability. 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  355 

die  :  but  this  sect  will  not  diminish,  which  thou 
now  knowest  is  but  increased  when  it  seems  to 
be  in  the  course  of  being  extirpated.  For  who 
ever  sees  so  much  fortitude  is  tempted  to  inquire 
into  the  cause,  and  when  he  sees  the  truth  he 
himself  quickly  embraces  it."  * 

This  language  was  used  in  Africa,  within  a 
a  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  first  promul 
gation  of  Christianity. 

Unknown  and  despised,  it  was  penetrating, 
like  the  electric  forces,  silently  and  irresistibly, 
into  the  hearts  of  mankind,  in  all  quarters  of  the 
world.  It  had  seized  all  the  great  marts  of  com 
merce  and  political  power.  Rome,  long  before 
it  was  aware  of  the  fact,  felt  its  secret  energy. 
Judaism  tried  to  crush  it,  but  was  itself  crushed 
in  the  encounter.  Polytheism  struggled  with  it 
in  deadly  embrace,  but  finally  yielded  to  its  supe 
rior  force,  and,  with  pagan  philosophy,  first  gave 
up  the  cities,  then  the  smaller  places,  and  at  last 
the  country  itself.  Every  where  Christianity  was 
aggressive  and  triumphant. 

How  shall  we  account  for  this  amazing  power 
and  progress  ?  Gibbon  has  attempted  the  solu 
tion  by  a  reference  to  natural  causes.  The  fol 
lowing  is  his  enumeration  of  these :  — 

"  1.  The  inflexible,   and,   if  we  may  use  the 

*  Ad  Scapulam,)  c.  5. 


356  CHRIST   IN  HISTORY. 

expression,  the  intolerant  zeal  of  the  Christians, 
derived,  it  is  true,  from  the  Jewish  religion,  but 
purified  from  the  narrow  and  unsocial  spirit, 
which,  instead  of  inviting,  had  deterred  the  Gen 
tiles  from  embracing  the  law  of  Moses.  2.  The 
doctrine  of  a  future  life,  improved  by  every  ad 
ditional  circumstance  which  could  give  weight 
and  efficacy  to  that  important  truth.  3.  The 
miraculous  powers  ascribed  to  the  primitive 
church.  4.  The  pure  and  austere  morals  of  the 
Christians.  5.  The  union  and  discipline  of  the 
Christian  republic,  which  gradually  formed  an 
independent  and  increasing  state  in  the  heart  of 
the  Roman  empire."  * 

We  accept  the  facts,  for  they  lie  on  the  surface, 
but  the  solution  is  not  thereby  found.  The  facts 
themselves  have  to  be  accounted  for.  The  in 
flexible  zeal  —  the  intense  devotion  —  the  exclu 
sive  faith,  infallible  as  light  —  the  lofty  self-denial 
—  the  austere  morality  —  the  all-comprehending 
love  —  the  noble  confession  of  the  one  God,  and 
the  one  immortal  life  —  the  well-established 
claim  of  miraculous  powers,  —  in  a  word,  the 
unity,  purity,  fidelity,  and  all-conquering  force  of 
the  great  Christian  republic,  originally  bound 
together,  as  Gibbon  himself  confesses,  only  by 
the  ties  of  a  common  faith,  are  facts  which  do 

*  Hist,  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Rom.  Empire,  ii.  264. 


THE    PRIMIT1TE    CHURCH.  357 

not  explain  themselves,  but  need  to  be  explained  by 
reference  to  some  adequate  cause.  In  matters 
like  these,  true  philosophy  goes  beneath  the  sur 
face,  and  sees,  in  energies  and  results  so  stupen 
dous,  the  might  of  a  supernatural  life.  It  is  the 
presence  of  the  Deity  among  men ;  in  other 
words,  the  presence  of  infinite  love  and  pity  in 
the  hearts  of  primitive  believers.  "  The  love  of 
Christ,"  says  Paul,  "  constraineth  us  to  live,  not 
unto  ourselves,  but  unto  him  who  died  and  rose 
again."  Hence,  they  "  lived  to  Christ ;  "  hence, 
also,  they  "  died  to  Christ."  Immortal,  they  re 
joiced  in  shame,  agony,  and  death.  The  death 
of  the  martyrs  was  the  life  of  the  church.  Their 
superiority  to  all  things  outward,  especially  their 
superiority  to  suffering,  struck  the  heathen.  This 
it  was  which  convinced  the  philosophers  Justinus, 
Pantaenus,  Clemens,  and  Origcn.  This  it  was 
which  conquered  the  Roman  world.  Their  mot 
to  was,  "  Nothing  for  self,  every  thing  for  God." 
Do  we  need  proof  of  this  ?  Let  the  heathen  them 
selves  inform  us.  All  their  writers,  who  refer  to 
this  subject,  speak  of  what  they  are  pleased  to 
call  their  "  obstinate  contempt  of  death."  Pliny 
bears  noble  testimony  to  the  purity  of  their 
lives.  "  They  affirmed,"  says  he,  injiis  letter  to 
the  emperor,  "  that  the  whole  of  their  guilt  or 
error  was,  that  they  met  on  a  stated  day,  before 
it  was  light,  and  addressed  themselves  in  a  form 


358  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

of  prayer  to  Christ,  as  to  some  god,  binding 
themselves  by  a  solemn  oath,  not  for  the  purpose 
of  any  wicked  design,  but  never  to  commit  any 
fraud,  theft,  or  adultery  ;  never  to  falsify  their 
word,  nor  to  deny  a  trust  when  they  should  be 
called  upon  to  deliver  it  up  ;  after  which  it  was 
their  custom  to  separate,  and  then  reassemble  to 
eat  in  common  a  harmless  meal."  After  receiv 
ing  this  account,  he  adds,  that  he  put  two  of 
their  number,  whp  were  accustomed  to  serve  in 
their  religious  functions,  to  the  torture,  in  order 
to  discover  something  more ;  but  he  could  find 
nothing  reprehensible,  except  their  inflexible  at 
tachment  to  what  he  is  pleased  to  designate  their 
absurd  superstition.  "  We  declare  and  openly 
profess,"  says  Justin  Martyr,  "  in  the  midst  of 
all  your  tortures,  even  while  torn  and  bleeding, 
we  proclaim  that  we  worship  God  through  Jesus 
Christ."  "  Torment,  rack,  condemn,  crush  us," 
says  Tertullian,  "  the  most  exquisite  cruelty  you 
can  devise  avails  you  nothing,  but  rather  in 
duces  the  more  to  become  Christians.  As  often 
as  we  are  cut  down  by  persecutions,  we  spring 
up  the  more  abundantly.  The  blood  of  Christians 
is  the  seed  of  the  church"  Hence  the  author  of 
the  Epistle  to  Diognetus,  one  of  the  earliest  and 
most  touching  fragments  of  primitive  Christian 
literature,  unquestionably  belonging  to  the  early 
part  of  the  second  century,  could  say,  as  if  the 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  359 

love  of  Christ  were  throbbing  at  his  heart,  and 
dictating  his  language,  "  They  live  in  the  flesh, 
but  not  after  the  flesh ;  they  dwell  on  the  earth, 
but  have  their  mansion  in  heaven  ;  they  obey 
the  existing  laws,  but  in  their  lives  are  superior 
to  all  law  ;  loving  all  men,  they  are  persecuted 
by  all ;  living  unknown,  they  are  condemned  to 
death ;  they  are  slain,  and  behold  they  live ; 
though  poor,  they  make  many  rich  ;  in  want  of 
every  thing,  they  have  abundance ;  in  dishonor, 
they  are  but  honored  the  more  ;  when  defamed, 
they  are  vindicated  ;  when  reviled,  they  bless  ;  for 
insolence,  they  return  respect ;  for  well  doing, 
they  are  punished  as  evil  doers ;  and  yet  rejoice 
in  their  punishments,  as  being  made  alive.  Re 
jected  by  the  Jews,  as  aliens,  they  are  persecuted 
by  the  Greeks  ;  and,  though  hated  by  all  men, 
none  can  show  cause  of  enmity  against  them." 

He  then  proceeds  to  show  how  God  sent  his 
Son  to  redeem  the  world  from  sin,  and  that,  on 
this  ground,  vast  but  delightful  responsibilities 
are  laid  upon  Christians,  and  adds,  "  See  you  not 
that  those  who  are  delivered  up  to  wild  beasts, 
because  they  will  not  deny  their  God,  are  not 
overcome,  but  only  increase  the  more,  the  more 
they  are  persecuted  ?  This  is  the  work  not  of  man, 
but  of  God,  and  an  evident  token  of  his  coming."  * 

*  Episiola  ad  Diognetum.     V.  Hefcle's  Patres  Apostolici,  p.  228.. 
For  a  translation  of  the  whole  of  the  Epistola,  see  Appendix  F. 


360  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

Some  may  be  inclined  to  diminish  the  force 
of  this  testimony,  by  referring  it  to  the  partiality 
of  sectarian  preference.  It  is  corroborated,  how 
ever,  by  the  heathen  themselves,  who,  while  ac 
cusing  the  Christians  of  atheism,  in  rejecting  the 
false  gods  of  the  populace,  are  compelled,  at 
least  indirectly,  to  acknowledge  the  superiority 
of  the  Christian  character.  Thus  Lucian,  the 
satirist,  in  giving  the  history  of  an  impostor,  by 
the  name  of  Proteus  or  Peregrinus,  who  deceived 
the  Christians,  by  pretending  to  wonderful  sanc 
tity  and  wisdom,  incidentally  gives  the  follow 
ing  account  of  their  views  and  habits. 

"  About  this  time,"  says  he,  "  it  was  that  he 
[Peregrinus]  learned  the  wonderful  wisdom  of 
the  Christians,  being  intimately  acquainted  with 
their  priests  and  scribes.  In  a  very  short  time 
he  convinced  them  that  they  were  all  boys  in 
comparison  with  himself,  and  became  their  leader, 
prophet,  and  grand  president,  in  short,  all  in  all 
to  them.  He  explained  and  interpreted  many 
of  their  books,  and  wrote  some  himself;  inso 
much  that  they  looked  upon  him  as  their  legis 
lator  and  high  priest;  nay,  almost  worshipped 
him  as  a  god.  Their  leader,  whom  they  yet 
adore,  was  crucified  in  Palestine,  for  introducing 
this  new  sect ;  and  this  very  circumstance  was 
the  foundation  of  all  the  consequence  and  repu 
tation  which  he  afterwards  gained,  and  of  that 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  361 

glory,  of  which  he  had  always  been  so  ambitious. 
For  when  he  was  in  bonds,  the  Christians,  con 
sidering  it  as  a  calamity  affecting  the  common 
cause,  did  all  in  their  power  to  release  him, 
which,  finding  impracticable,  they  paid  him  all 
deference  and  honor.  Old  women,  widows,  and 
orphans  were  continually  crowding  to  him  ;  some 
of  the  principal  of  them  even  remained  with  him 
in  prison,  having,  for  the  sake  of  doing  so,  bribed 
the  keepers ;  suppers  were  brought  in  to  them ; 
they  read  together  their  sacred  books,  and  the 
noble  Peregrinus  —  for  such  he  was  then  called — 
was  dignified  with  the  title  of  the  new  Socrates. 
Some  of  the  Christian  deputies  came  from  the 
cities  of  Asia  to  assist  in  pleading  for  and  com 
forting  him.  It  is  incredible  with  what  alacrity 
these  people  support  and  defend  the  public 
cause  ;  they  spare  nothing,  indeed,  to  promote  it. 
Peregrinus  being  made  a  prisoner  on  their  ac 
count,  they  collected  money  for  him,  and  he  made 
a  pretty  respectable  revenue  from  it.  These  poor 
people,  it  seems,  had  persuaded  themselves  that 
they  should  be  immortal  and  live  forever."  The 
reader  will  notice  especially  what  follows. 
"  They  despised  death,  therefore,  and  offered  up 
their  lives  a  voluntary  sacrifice,  being  taught  by 
their  lawgiver  that  they  were  all  brethren,  and 
that,  abandoning  our  Grecian  gods,  they  must 
31 


362  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

worship  their  own  sage  (sophist  or  rather  phi 
losopher,)  who  was  crucified,  and  live  in  obedi 
ence  to  his  laws,  in  compliance  with  which  they 
looked  with  contempt  on  all  worldly  treasures, 
and  held  everything  in  common — a  maxim  which 
they  had  adopted  without  just  reason.  If  any 
cunning  impostor,  therefore,  who  knew  how  to 
manage  matters,  carne  amongst  them,  he  soon 
acquired  wealth,  by  imposing  on  the  credulity 
of  these  weak  and  ignorant  men." 

But  we  shall  best  illustrate  the  spirit  of  the 
primitive  church  by  giving  one  or  two  specimens, 
among  many  that  might  be  cited,  of  early  Chris 
tian  heroism. 

In  the  time  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  himself  a  phi 
losopher,  and  upon  the  whole  a  good  emperor, 
though  permitting,  and  in  some  instances  sanc 
tioning,  great  enormities,  Christians  were  often 
persecuted  in  an  irregular  way.  Among  these 
Justin,  surnamed  the  Martyr,  was  brought,  on 
some  pretence,  before  the  prefect,  by  Crescens, 
a  Cynic  philosopher,  whose  unblushing  vices  had 
been  exposed  by  Justin,  while  defending  Chris 
tianity  against  the  attacks  of  his  enemy.  The 
name  of  the  prefect  was  Rusticus,  supposed  by 
many  to  have  been  the  teacher  of  the  emperor  in 
the  Stoic  philosophy.  On  this  occasion,  the  fol 
lowing  conversation  occurred :  — 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHUUC1I.  363 

Ruslicus.  First  of  all,  offer  sacrifice  to  the 
gods,  and  do  homage  to  the  emperor. 

Justin.  He  who  obeys  Christ  is  guilty  of  no 
crime.  (Meaning  that  he  ought  to  be  dis 
charged.) 

Ruslicus.  Of  what  sect  [of  philosophers]  do 
you  profess  yourself?  * 

Justin.  I  tried  all,  and  finally  embraced  that 
of  Christ ;  though  that  is  not  agreeable  to  those 
who  profess  what  is  erroneous. 

Rusticus.  Do  you  profess  that  doctrine,  un 
happy  man  ? 

Justin.     Yes ;  for  it  seems  to  me  to  be  true. 

Rusticus.     What  is  the  doctrine  ? 

Justin.  That  we  should  worship  the  God  of 
the  Christians,  whom  we  believe  to  have  been 
from  the  beginning  One  ;  the  Creator  and  Maker 
of  all  things,  —  of  all  things  seen  and  unseen, — 
and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  who 
was  predicted  by  the  prophets,  as  the  future  Sa 
vior  of  mankind,  their  preacher  and  instructor 
in  excellent  doctrine  —  though  I,  being  man, 
cannot  speak  adequately  of  his  infinite  divinity, 
that  being  only  to  be  known  by  prophetic  power. 
For  the  prophets  spoke  long  before  of  him  whom 
I  spoke  of  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  of  his  pres 
ence  on  earth  among  men. 

*  Justin,  after  his  conversion,  continued  to  wear  the  philoso 
pher's  cloak.  He  was  known,  therefore,  as  a  Christian  philosopher. 


364  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Rusticus.     Where  do  you  assemble  ? 

Justin.  Wherever  any  one  chooses.*  Do  you 
suppose  we  all  meet  in  one  place  ?  Far  from  it. 
As  the  God  of  the  Christians  is  without  limita 
tion,  and  invisibly  fills  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
his  faithful  servants  render  him  praise  and  wor 
ship  every  where. 

Rmticus.  Tell  me  where  you  assemble,  and 
in  what  place  your  disciples  are  collected. 

Justin.  I  live  just  above  a  certain  man  by  the 
name  of  Martinus.  And  up  to  this  time  I  know 
of  no  place  of  meeting  but  that.  If  any  one 
chooses  to  come  to  me,  I  communicate  to  him 
the  doctrine  of  truth. 

Rusticus.  Are  you  not  then,  after  all,  a  Chris 
tian  ? 

Justin.     Assuredly  I  am  a  Christian. 

[Here  other  Christians  present,  companions 
of  Justin, —being  addressed  by  Rusticus,  avow 
themselves  on  the  same  side.  After  which  he 
again  addresses  Justin  as  follows  :  — ] 

Listen  to  me,  wise  man,  you  who  think  you 
know  the  doctrine. of  truth.  If  you  are  scourged 
from  head  to  foot,  do  you  suppose  you  shall  then 
ascend  into  the  heavens? 

Justin.  I  hope  to  enjoy  the  promise,  if  I  suffer 
these  things;  for  I  know  that  all  who  so  live 

*  The  reply  was  made  to  escape  the  law  against  Hetierhe. 


THE   PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  365 

will  partake  of  the  divine  gift  till  the  consumma 
tion  of  all  things. 

Rusticus.  Do  you  imagine,  when  you  ascend 
into  heaven,  that  some  recompense  will  be  award 
ed  to  you? 

Justin.  I  do  not  imagine,  I  believe ;  nay,  I  am 
certain  of  it. 

Rusticus.  Let  us  return,  however,  to  the  busi 
ness  before  us.  Come,  then,  all  of  you,  and  offer 
incense  to  the  gods  with  one  accord. 

Justin.  No  right-minded  man  falls  from  piety 
into  impiety  — 

Justin  is  here  cut  short  by  the  praefect,  who 
says,  "  If  you  do  not  obey,  I  shall  punish  you 
without  mercy."  To  which  Justin  replies, — 

"  We  give  thanks  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that 
we,  through  suffering,  shall  be  saved ;  for  this 
will  bring  us  freedom  and  salvation  before  the 
dread  tribunal  of  our  Lord  and  Savior." 

In  which  the  other  martyrs  concur,  saying,  — 

Do  what  you  will  with  us  —  we  are  Chris 
tians,  arid  will  not  offer  incense  to  idols. 

Whereupon  the  praefect  pronounces  the  follow 
ing  sentence :  — • 

Those  who  will  not  offer  incense  to  the  gods, 
nor  obey  the  decree  of  the  emperor,  having  been 
scourged,  shall  be  led  away  and  punished  capital 
ly,  according  to  the  tenor  of  the  law. 

Such  were  the  terrible  tests  to  which  the  faith 
31* 


3GG  CHRIST    JN    HISTORY. 

of  the   primitive   Christians  was  subjected,  and 
such  their  mild  but  triumphant  firmness. 

"  Swear,"  said  the  persecutors  who  had  seized 
the  venerable  bishop,  or  pastor,  of  the  church  in 
Smyrna,  "  Swear  by  the  genius  of  Caesar;  retract, 
and  say,  Away  with  the  godless!  "  The  old  man 
gazed  in  .sorrow  at  the  frantic  multitude,  and, 
with  his  eyes  lifted  up  to  heaven,  said,  "  Away 
with  the  godless ! "  "  Swear,  and  I  release 
thee,"  urged  the  heathen  magistrate  ;  "  blaspheme 
Christ !  "  "JBighty  and  six  years  have  I  served 
Christ,  and  he  has  never  done  me  an  injury ;  how 
can  I  blaspheme  my  King  and  my  Savior  ?  "  was 
the  touching  response.  The  proconsul  again 
commanded  him  to  swear  by  the  genius  of  Caesar. 
Polycarp  replied,  that  he  was  a  Christian,  and 
requested  a  day  to  be  appointed  on  which  he 
might  explain,  before  the  proconsul,  the  blame 
less  tenets  of  Christianity.  "  Persuade  the  people 
to  consent,"  replied  the  ruler,  overawed  by  the 
calm  dignity  of  his  prisoner.  "  We  owe  respect 
to  authority,"  said  Polycarp ;  "  to  thee  I  will  ex 
plain  the  reasons  of  my  conduct,  to  the  populace 
I  will  make  no  explanation."  The  good  man 
well  knew  that  it  was  useless  to  reason  with  the 
passions  of  a  ferocious  multitude.  The  procon 
sul  then  threatened  to  expose  him  to  the  wild 
beasts.  "'Tis  well  for  me  to  be  released  from 
this  life  of  misery,"  was  the  only  reply.  He 


TUT.    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  367 

threatened  to  burn  him  alive.  "  I  fear  not  the 
fire  that  burns  for  a  moment ;  thou  knowest  not 
that  which  burns  forever  and  ever ! "  His  coun 
tenance  was  full  of  peace  and  joy,  even  when 
the  executioner  advanced  into  the  midst  of  the 
assembly  and  thrice  proclaimed,  "  Polycarp  has 
professed  himself  a  Christian."  The  multitude, 
composed  of  Jews  and  heathen,  replied  with  an 
overpowering  shout.  They  demanded  that  he 
should  be  cast  to  the  wild  beasts.  The  Asiarch 
excused  himself,  by  saying  that  the  games  were 
over.  Then  a  general  cry  arose  that  Polycarp 
should  be  burned  alive.  A  hasty  but  capacious 
funeral  pile  was  gathered  of  the  fuel  of  the  baths 
and  other  combustibles.  He  was  speedily  dis 
robed  ;  he  requested  not  to  be  nailed  to  the 
stake ;  he  was  only  bound  to  it.  In  a  dignified 
and  simple  manner,  he  then  offered  the  following 
prayer :  "  O  Lord  God  Almighty,  the  Father 
of  the  well-beloved  and  ever-blessed  Son  Jesus 
Christ,  by  whom  we  have  received  the  knowledge 
of  thee,  the  God  of  angels,  powers,  and  of  every 
creature,  and  of  the  whole  race  of  the  righteous 
who  live  before  thee,  I  thank  thee  that  thou  hast 
graciously  thought  me  worthy  of  this  day  and 
this  hour,  that  I  may  receive  a  portion  in  the 
number  of  thy  martyrs,  and  drink  of  Christ's  cup, 
for  the  resurrection  to  eternal  life,  both  of  the 
body  and  the  soul,  in  the  incorruptibleness  of 


368  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

the  Holy  Spirit ;  among  whom  may  I  be  admit 
ted  as  a  rich  and  acceptable  sacrifice,  as  thou,  O 
true  and  faithful  God,  hast  prepared,  and  fore 
shown,  and  accomplished.  Wherefore  I  praise 
thee  for  all  thy  mercies ;  I  bless  thee ;  I  glorify 
thee,  with  the  eternal  and  heavenly  Jesus  Christ, 
thy  beloved  Son,  to  whom,  with  thee  and  the 
Holy  Spirit,  be  glory  now  and  forever." 

The  fire  was  kindled  in  vain,  probably  from 
some  natural  cause,  though  the  early  Christians 
deemed  it  supernatural.*  Though  the  fire  was 
kindled  again,  an  executioner  was  sent  to  de 
spatch  the  victim,  and  the  blood  which  flowed 
from  his  side  served  to  extinguish  the  flame. 
His  body  was  subsequently  reduced  to  ashes. 

"  Such  was  the  death  of  the  blessed  Polycarp," 
says  the  Letter  of  the  Church  of  Smyrna,  "who, 
though  he  was  the  twelfth  of  those  in  Smyrna 
who,  together  with  those  from  Philadelphia,  suf 
fered  martyrdom,  is  yet  chiefly  celebrated  by  all 
men ;  insomuch  that  he  is  spoken  of  by  the  very 
Gentiles  themselves,  in  every  place,  as  having 
been  not  only  an  eminent  teacher,  but  also  a 
glorious  martyr;  whose  death  all  desire  to  imi 
tate,  as  having  been  every  way  conformable  to 
the  gospel  of  Christ."  f 


*  Patres  Apos.,  (ed.  Hcfelc,)  p.  216. 
f  Ibid.  p.  219. 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHUKCII.  369 

The  martyrdom  of  Polycarp  took  place  in  the 
early  part  of  the  second  century,  when  Chris 
tianity  was  yet  in  the  freshness  and  purity  of  its 
first  love. 

At  the  close  of  the  second  century,  Christian 
ity,  by  the  simple  force  of  its  inherent  virtue, 
was  spreading  far  and  wide  in  every  direction. 
It  was  felt  as  a  power,  not  only  in  Rome,  the 
capital  of  the  empire,  but  in  Africa  on  the  one 
hand,  and  Gaul  on  the  other.  It  had  made  its 
way  beyond  the  confines  of  Arabia  and  Syria, 
as  far  as  Hither  India ;  nay,  more,  it  had  pene 
trated,  with  more  or  less  success,  among  the 
barbarians  of  the  British  Isles.  We  do  not  in 
deed  mean  to  affirm,  that  in  these  countries  poly 
theism  was  not  the  recognized  and  predominant 
faith  ;  but  we  do  mean  to  say,  that  Christianity 
was  gradually  taking  its  place,  undermining  its 
strength,  and  preparing  its  overthrow.  The  night 
of  superstition  was  still  deep  and  portentous,  but 
the  sunlight  was  piercing  its  depths,  and  glancing 
upwards  and  afar  amid  its  broken  shadows. 

This  was  the  age  of  conversion  and  prosely- 
tism,  of  struggle  and  self-sacrifice  ;  consequently 
of  simplicity,  purity,  and  love.  The  might  of 
the  gospel  was  felt  in  the  hearts  of  men ;  Jesus 
Christ  was  recognized  as  "  Head  over  all  to  the 
church  ; "  pastors  and  people,  united  by  fraternal 


370  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

ties,  had  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism ;  in  a 
word,  freedom  and  brotherhood  united  the  whole, 
and  made  them  one  in  Christ.* 


*  In  the  Appendix,  note  G,  vrill  be  found  some  interesting  testi 
monies  from  Bunsen,  Guizot,  Ranke,  Gibbon,  and  others,  touching 
the  organization  and  government  of  the  primitive  church. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

SAME  SUBJECT  CONTINUED. 

THE  third  century,  in  the  history  of  Christian 
ity,  was  one  of  struggle  and  transition,  of  partial 
corruption  and  splendid  triumph.  Embodied 
among  men,  it  partook  somewhat  of  their  imper 
fections,  and  of  the  imperfections  of  the  age. 
The  times  were  evil,  changing,  and  tumultuous. 
Corruptions  the  most  horrible  invaded  the  heart 
of  Roman  society.  The  old  civic  virtue  was 
entirely  lost.  Scepticism  and  cruelty,  luxury  and 
lust,  reigned  among  the  patricians  ;  discontent 
and  greed,  selfishness  and  disloyalty,  among  the 
people.  Rome  grew  weaker  and  weaker  at  the 
centre,  more  feverish  and  disturbed  at  the  extrem 
ities.  Now  and  then  a  good  and  able  emperor 
ruled  well  for  a  few  years,  but  the  good  he  accom 
plished  was  obliterated  by  some  weak  or  wicked 
successor.  The  army  ruled  the  state,  controlled 
the  emperor,  made  arid  unmade  the  laws.  Oc 
casionally  the  Christians  were  tolerated,  but  oft- 
ener  persecuted.  Indeed,  this  was  preeminently 
the  age  of  persecution.  Blood  flowed  in  torrents. 
Thousands  were  thrown  to  the  wild  beasts,  or 
murdered  by  the  frantic  populace. 

(371) 


372  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

Christianity,  however,  made  rapid  progress.  It 
numbered  nobles  and  philosophers  among  its 
followers.  It  was  preached  among  the  Goths, 
and,  in  some  degree,  softened  their  ferocity.  In 
Gaul  and  in  Germany,  far  and  near,  churches 
were  multiplied.  Tours,  Aries,  Treves,  Paris, 
Mentz,  and  other  places,  became  the  strongholds 
of  its  power.  It  occasionally  invaded  the  palace 
of  the  Roman  emperors,  and  exerted  some  influ 
ence  even  upon  its  most  furious  persecutors. 
When  the  monster  Galerius  was  dying,  he  abated 
his  persecution  of  the  Christians,  and  asked  their 
prayers  on  his  behalf. 

Christianity,  however,  in  the  hands  of  many, 
had  lost  something  of  its  simplicity.  Supersti 
tions  were  ingrafted  on  its  simple  usages.  Power 
was  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  metropolitan 
bishops.  Vain  speculations  were  indulged  by 
some  Christian  philosophers.  Philosopher,  indeed, 
with  all  its  treasures,  was  rapidly  flowing  into 
the  bosom  of  the  church.  Plato  and  Philo  were 
incorporated  into  the  Alexandrian  school,  and 
much  error  was  mingled  with  sublimest  truth. 
In  Clement  and  Origen,  the  highest  speculative 
thought  was  combined  witl\the  profoundest  piety  : 
but  in  the  end,  while  philosophy  was  exalted, 
piety  suffered.  All  this,  however,  was  inevitable, 
in  the  process  of  human  thought.  Offences  must 
come,  heresies  and  divisions,  vain  jangling,  and 


THE   PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  373 

foolish  speculation.  The  converts  to  Christian 
ity  were  from  all  nations,  of  all  sorts  of  educa 
tion  and  temperament.  Many  of  them  were 
men  of  vigorous  intellects  and  rooted  prejudices, 
who,  though  converted  to  Christ,  retained  many 
of  their  errors  and  defects.  Hence,  in  their 
views  of  the  Deity,  and  of  religion,  they  followed 
their  first,  or  their  most  popular  instructors.  Now 
they  were  of  one  school  of  philosophy,  then  of 
another.  Few,  if  any,  had  just  views  either  of 
secular  or  of  ecclesiastical  government.  All 
were  accustomed  to  centralization  and  despotism. 
They  misconceived  the  free,  expansive  genius  of 
Christianity.  Hence,  as  Beausobre  has  remarked, 
"  An  Epicurean  who  embraced  the  faith  was 
disposed  to  clothe  the  Divinity  in  a  human  form, 
and  to  define  it,  like  Epicurus,  to  be  an  immortal 
and  happy  animal.  A  Platonist,  on  the  contrary, 
according  to  his  master's  views,  maintained  God 
to  be  incorporeal*  A  Pythagorean,  a  follower 
of  Empedocles,  or  of  Heracleitus,  considered  the 
Deity  as  an  intelligent  fire  or  light,"  &c. 

We  may  add  that  some  of  them  were  panthe 
ists,  and  so  represented  the  creation  of  all  things 
as  an  emanation,  and  thus  confounded  matter 

*  And  yet  Plato  himself  represented  "  the  manifested  God,"  or 
the  God  of  the  outward  universe,  as  "  an  animal  ;  "  —  not  an  animal 
in  the  inferior  sense,  sometimes  attached  to  the  term,  —  but  a  liv 
ing  being,  with  a  body  as  well  as  a  soul. 

32 


374  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY, 

and  mind.  Temperament  also  combined  with 
these  influences  to  deepen  and  extend  the  pe 
culiarities  of  the  Christian  converts.  Hence 
the  materialism  of  Hermas  and  Tertullian,  who 
believed  in  the  regenerative  power  of  water  ;  the 
spiritualism  of  Justin  Martyr,  Clement,  (of 
Alexandria,)  and  Origen,  with  their  Platonic 
notions  and  symbolic  interpretations ;  as,  also, 
the  various  errors  of  the  Gnostics  and  the  Man- 
ichees,  who  mingled  the  truths  of  Christianity 
with  their  thepsophic  dreams,  their  pleromas 
and  seons. 

The  age,  too,  was  credulous  and  superstitious. 
Freedom  and  independence  in  matters  of  govern 
ment  and  discipline  were  almost  unknown.  Thou 
sands  of  converts,  among  them  many  teachers 
and  preachers,  were  ignorant  and  superstitious. 
Hence  the  multiplication  of  forms  and  ceremo 
nies,  and  the  vast  importance  attached  to  exter 
nal  acts,  to  chrisms  and  genuflections,  amulets 
and  charms. 

Nevertheless,  the  revolution  in  the  views  and 
manners  of  the  converted  heathen  was  immense. 
Idol  worship  was  abandoned,  and  the  one  true 
and  eternal  Jehovah  was  loved  and  adored.  The 
heart  was  cleansed  of  its  idolatry  and  lust,  the 
life  of  its  folly  and  crime.  It  is  well  known, 
that  among  the  heathen,  a  virtuous  woman  was 
a  great  rarity ;  among  the  Christian  females, 


THE   PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  375 

continence  was  the  rule,  vice  the  exception. 
Charity  and  chastity  were  the  noble  graces  of 
the  primitive  church. 

The  contrast  between  the  manners  of  the 
Christians  and  those  of  the  heathen  was  obvi 
ous  to  all.  The  following  description,  in  a  letter 
of  Cyprian,  is  by  no  means  exaggerated.  Writing 
to  his  friend  Donatus,  he  says,  "  Imagine  your 
self  raised  above  the  earth,  and  looking  down 
upon  it,  so  as  to  perceive  what  is  going  on  there. 
Behold  the  roads  obstructed  by  bands  of  robbers  ; 
the  sea  beset  with  pirates  ;  war  every  where !  The 
very  earth  is  wet  with  blood,  and  what  is  called 
murder,  when  committed  by  a  private  individual, 
is  virtue  when  it  is  done  by  many ;  impunity 
being  secured,  not  by  the  smallness,  but  by  the 
greatness  of  the  offence.  If  you  turn  your  eyes 
to  the  cities,  then  you  will  find  their  very  magni 
tude  more  offensive  than  the  most  wretched  soli 
tude.  There  gladiatorial  shows  are  exhibited  to 
gratify  the  lust  .of  blood.  Man  is  slaughtered  for 
the  pleasure  of  man  ;  he  who  best  knows  how  to 
kill  is  the  most  skilful ;  it  is  a  trade,  an  art. 
The  crime  is  not  only  perpetrated,  but  it  is 
taught.  What  can  be  more  inhuman  ?  They 
combat  with  beasts,  not  as  criminals,  but  from 
brute  fury :  sons  behold  their  father,  the  sister 
sees  the  brother,  in  the  amphitheatre. 


376  CIIKIST   IN   HISTORY. 

"  Turn  your  eyes  to  spectacles  of  another  kind, 
not  less  repulsive  and  corrupting.  In  the  theatre, 
the  most  vicious  representations,  parricide  and 
incest  reproduced  in  all  their  horror.  Look 
at  the  comic  actor,  the  very  schoolmaster  of  vice. 
Adultery  is  learned  by  seeing  it  acted !  The 
theatre  panders  to  vice,  and  breaks  down  the 
modesty  of  women.  What  an  incitement  to 
vice  in  the  gestures  of  the  actors,  who  undertake 
to  represent  the  whole  course  of  sensual  indul 
gence  !  If,  from  this,  you  could  look  into  the 
retirement  of  the  closed  chamber,  and  see  what 
is  there  transacted !  But  your  eyes  would  be 
defiled  by  beholding  it." 

Cyprian  then  proceeds,  in  deepening  colors,  to 
depict  still  more  horrible  crimes,  public  and  pri 
vate,  in  the  forum,  the  baths,  the  theatres,  the 
places  of  public  concourse,  to  some  of  which  we 
have  no  parallel  in  modern  times,  crimes  which  it 
is  impossible  for  us  to  repeat,  difficult  for  us  to 
conceive.  Indeed,  he  describes  that  state  of 
society,  to  which  St.  Paul,  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  refers,  as  the  most  degraded  and  bestial. 

All  this,  however,  the  early  Christians  re 
nounced.  Theatres,  gladiatorial  shows,  popular 
amusements,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the 
eye,  and  the  pride  of  life  they  abandoned  in  their 
baptism.  They  deserted  the  temples  of  the  gods, 
and  gave  themselves  to  the  cultivation  of  piety 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  377 

and  virtue.  Tested  by  the  most  powerful  temp 
tations,  sometimes  by  appalling  deaths,  some 
yielded,  but  yielded  reluctantly  and  with  horror. 
This  is  freely  admitted  by  the  Christian  fathers 
and  church  historians.  But  it  is  precisely  what 
might  have  been  expected.  But  many  repented, 
while  the  great  body  of  believers  nobly  stood 
the  test.  They  preferred  death  to  dishonor. 
Their  purity,  their  fidelity,  their  triumphant  faith 
astonished  even  the  heathen.  They  gloried  in 
the  cross.  Christ  was  in  their  souls,  as  strength 
and  peace  eternal,  and  willingly,  nay,  cheerfully, 
they  passed  through  fire  and  blood,  agony  and 
disolution,  to  the  glory  of  martyrdom.  "  Your 
cruelty,"  says  Tertullian,  addressing  the  heathen 
ruler,  "  will  be  our  glory.  Thousands  of  both 
sexes,  and  of  every  rank,  will  eagerly  crowd  to 
martyrdom,  exhaust  your  fires,  and  weary  your 
swords.  Carthage  must  be  decimated ;  the  prin 
cipal  persons  in  the  city,  even  perhaps  your  own 
most  intimate  friends  and  kindred,  must  be  sac 
rificed.  Vainly  will  you  war  against  God. 
Magistrates  are  but  men,  and  will  suffer  the 
common  lot  of  mortality  ;  but  Christianity  will 
endure  as  long  as  the  Roman  empire,  and  the 
duration  of  the  empire  will  be  coeval  with  that 
of  the  world."  Look,  for  example,  at  the  sub 
lime  serenity  and  triumph  of  that  youthful  com 
pany,  Revocatus  and  Felicitas,  Saturninus  and 
32* 


•378  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Secundulus,  catechumens,  and  Viva  Perpetua, 
a  woman  of  good  family  and  liberal  education, 
and  honorably  married,  who  turned  away  from 
all  human  bribes,  and  gave  themselves  to  the 
fury  of  the  wild  beasts.  Entreated  by  the  prayers 
and  tears  of  an  aged  father  to  abandon  her  faith, 
Perpetua  clung  to  the  cross,  amid  shame,  agony, 
and  death.  In  prison  and  among  the  wild 
beasts,  with  her  young  child  in  her  arms,  she 
maintained  her  dignity  and  composure,  as  if  she 
were  an  angel  rather  that  a*  feeble  woman. 
"When  taken  out  to  execution,  they  declined, 
and  were  permitted  to  decline,  the  profane  dress 
in  which  they  were  to  be  clad;  the  men  that  of 
the  priests  of  Saturn,  the  women  that  of  the 
priestesses  of  Ceres.  They  came  forward  in 
their  simple  attire,  Perpetua  singing  psalms. 
The  men  were  exposed  to  leopards  and  bears  ; 
the  women  were  hung  up  naked  in  nets,  to  be 
gored  by  a  furious  cow.  But  even  the  excited 
populace  shrunk  with  horror  at  the  spectacle  of 
two  young  and  delicate  women,  one  recently 
recovered  from  child  birth,  in  this  state.  They 
were  recalled  by  acclamation,  and  in  mercy 
brought  forward  again  clad  in  loose  robes.  Per 
petua  was  tossed,  her  garment  was  rent ;  but 
more  conscious  of  her  wounded  modesty  than  of 
pain,  she  drew  the  robe  over  the  part  of  her  per 
son  that  was  exposed.  She  then  calmly  clasped 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCII.  379 

up  her  hair,  because  it  did  not  become  a  martyr 
to  suffer  with  dishevelled  locks,  the  sign  of  sor 
row.  She  then  raised  up  the  fainting  and  mor 
tally-wounded  Felicitas,  and  the  cruelty  of  the 
populace  being  for  a  time  appeased,  they  were 
permitted  to  retire.  Perpetua  seemed  rapt  in 
ecstasy,  and,  as  if  awaking  from  sleep,  inquired 
when  she  was  to  be  exposed  to  the  beast.  She 
could  scarcely  be  made  to  believe  what  had 
taken  place  ;  her  last  words  tenderly  admonished 
her  brother  to  be  steadfast  in  the  faith.  All  were 
speedily  released  from  their  sufferings.  Perpetua 
guided  with  her  own  hand  the  merciful  sword 
of  the  gladiator  which  relieved  her  from  her 
agony." 

Similar  to  this,  in  features  of  moral  beauty 
and  heroism,  was  the  martyrdom  of  Blandina 
at  Vienne,  in  Gaul.* 

The  charity  of  the  Christians  of  this  age  is 
beautifully  illustrated,  in  contrast  with  the  pro 
found  selfishness  of  the  heathen,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  devastating  plague  which  broke  out  at 
Alexandria,  as  a  consequence  of  the  carnage 
which  followed  the  insurrection  in  that  city. 
The  heathen  fled,  the  Christians  remained,  and 
were  unwearied  in  their  attendance  upon  the 
sick  and  dying.  Many  of  these  perished  in  the 

*  See  Milman's  Hist,  of  Christianity,  pp.  245,  2-iG.  See  also  p.  237 
of  the  same  work. 


380  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

performance  of  their  duty.  "  In  this  way,"  says 
the  good  Bishop  Dionysius,  with  affecting  sim 
plicity,  "  the  best  of  the  brethren  departed  this 
life  ;  some  ministers  and  some  deacons."  They 
thus  triumphantly  disproved  the  slander  of  their 
enemies,  who  were  wont  to  call  them  atheists 
and  man  haters. 

A  devotion  similar  to  this  was  shown  at  Car 
thage,  when  the  plague  reached  that  city.  "  All 
fled  in  horror  from  the  contagion,  abandoning 
their  relations  and  friends,  as  if  they  thought 
that  by  avoiding  the  plague  any  one  might  also 
exclude  death  altogether.  Meanwhile  the  city 
was  strewed  with  the  dead  bodies,  or  rather  car 
casses  of  the  dead,  which  seemed  to  call  for  pity 
on  the  passers  by,  who  might  themselves  so  soon 
share  the  same  fate ;  but  no  one  cared  for  any 
thing  but  miserable  pelf;  no  one  trembled  at  the 
consideration  of  what  might  so  soon  befall  him  in 
his  turn  ;  no  one  did  for  another  what  he  would 
have  wished  others  to  do  for  him.  The  bishop 
hereupon  called  together  his  flock,  and  setting1 
before  them  the  example  and  teaching'  of  their 
Lord,  called  on  them  to  act  up  to  it.  He  said 
if  they  took  care  only  of  their  own  people,  they 
did  but  what  the  commonest  feeling  would  dic 
tate  —  the  servant  of  Christ  must  do  more  :  he 
must  love  his  enemies  and  pray  for  his  perse 
cutors  ;  for  God  made  his  sun  to  rise,  and  his 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  381 

rain  to  fall  on  all  alike,  and  he  who  would  be 
the  child  of  God  must  imitate  his  Father."  To 
this  appeal  the  people  cheerfully  responded  ;  they 
formed  themselves  into  classes ;  the  rich  gave  of 
their  abundance,  the  poor  of  their  poverty,  and 
no  one  quitted  his  post  but  with  his  life. 

In  the  matter  of  government  and  discipline, 
the  church  of  the  third  century  was  gradually 
yielding  to  a  despotic,  all-controlling  unity.  The 
Bishops  of  Carthage,  Antioch,  and  Rome,  espe 
cially  the  latter,  exercised  extensive  influence  and 
dominion  over  the  neighboring  churches.  Grad 
ually  a  hierarchy  of  presbyters  and  bishops  was 
formed.  Those  who  possessed  talent  and  power, 
or  who  had  done  and  suffered  much  in  the  cause 
of  Christ,  claimed  a  higher  consideration.  Epis 
copal  authority  was  enhanced  ;  and  much  bigot 
ry  and  intolerance  were  developed.  Heretics 
and  apostates  were  denounced ;  the  slightest 
deviations  from  dominant  usage  was  pun 
ished  with  proscription  and  excommunication. 
Speculative  notions  also,  as  already  intimated, 
began  to  prevail,  and  formal  creeds  were  imposed 
upon  the  people.  The  Roman  emperors  occa 
sionally  flattered  the  bishops  and  leading  mem 
bers  of  the  church,  and  a  spirit  of  pride  and  in 
tolerance  was  beginning  to  invade  its  purity. 
This,  indeed,  was  often  checked,  if  not  alto 
gether  extinguished,  by  the  terrible  persecution 


382  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

through  which  they  all  passed  ;  and  upon  the 
whole,  the  third  century  was  one  of  remarkable 
spiritual  progress.  Piety  of  the  noblest,  and 
most  self-sacrificing  kind  adorned  the  character 
both  of  the  pastors  and  their  people.  The  gold 
was  somewhat  tarnished ;  nay,  more,  here  and 
there  it  was  mingled  with  dross  ;  but  it  was  gold 
still.  Christ  was  enthroned  in  the  church,  and 
his  peaceful  reign  extended  among  the  heathen. 

In  two  Christians  especially,  the  one  a  bishop, 
the  other  a  philosopher,  is  the  spirit  of  Chris 
tianity  at  this  era,  both  in  its  excellences  and 
defects,  strikingly  developed ;  and  to  them,  there 
fore,  we  will  devote  the  remainder  of  this  chap 
ter.  We  refer  to  Cyprian  of  Carthage,  and 
Origen  of  Alexandria,  both  of  them  great  and 
good,  yet  erring  and  defective  men. 

Thascius  Cyprianus  was  born  at  Carthage, 
of  wealthy  and  influential  heathen  parents.  He 
was  educated  with  great  care,  and  gave  evidence 
of  extraordinary  talents.  He  paid  much  atten 
tion  especially  to  oratorical  studies,  and  was  dis 
tinguished  for  his  bold  and  fervid  eloquence.  His 
temper  was  warm  and  imperious,  his  passions 
quick  and  powerful.  Yielding  to  the  vices  of 
heathenism,  and  despising  Christianity,  it  seemed 
impossible  that  he  should  ever  become  a  Christian ; 
and  indeed,  he  continued  attached  to  the  pagan 
faith  till  twelve  years  before  his  death.  When  his 


TTIK    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  383 

attention  was  called  to  the  truth,  he  felt  that  in 
his  case  the  transformation  demanded  was  im 
possible.  "  Receive,"  says  he  in  a  letter  to  his 
friend  Donatus,*  "  what  must  be  experienced  be 
fore  it  can  be  understood,  not  by  external  aids, 
or  mere  knowledge,  but  by  the  transforming 
grace  of  God.  When  I  lay  in  darkness  and 
blindness,  tossed  hither  and  thither,  in  the  dismal 
night,  amid  the  billows,  wandering  about  with 
an  uncertain  and  fluctuating  course,  according 
to  my  habits  at  that  time,  I  considered  it  was 
something  difficult  and  hard  that  any  one  could 
be  born  again,  lay  aside  what  he  was  before, 
and  although  his  corporeal  nature  remained 
the  same,  become  in  soul  and  temper  a  new 
man." 

"  How  could  a  man,"  said  he,  "  already  at 
mature  age,  undergo  such  a  transformation, 
change  his  whole  life  and  habits,  which  through 
constitution  or  the  force  of  custom  had  become 
a  second  nature ;  learn  economy  and  temperance 
when  accustomed  to  luxury  and  dissipation ;  ex 
change  gold  and  purple  for  a  poor  or  simple 
dress  ?  .  .  .  Thus  I  have  often  said  to  my 
self.  For  as  I  was  entangled  in  many  errors  of 
my  former  life,  and  did  not  believe  that  I  could 
be  emancipated  from  their  control,  I  yielded  to 

*   Epistola  Prinia  ad  Don, 


384  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

the  vice  which  clave  to  me,  and  despairing  of 
reform,  submitted  to  my  evil  passions,  as  if  they 
belonged  to  my  nature." 

After  a  long  struggle  with  himself,  and  aided 
by  the  pious  counsels  of  Cecilius,  a  Christian 
presbyter  whose  name  he  adopted  at  his  baptism, 
and  whose  wife  and  children  he  took  into  his 
own  charge,  after  the  death  of  Cecilius,  Cyprian 
at  length  yielded  to  the  overpowering  evidence 
of  Christianity,  and  became  a  new  man  in  Christ 
Jesus.  "  Then,"  says  he,  "  things  formerly  doubt 
ful  were  confirmed  in  a  remarkable  manner; 
what  before  was  closed  became  open,  and  dark 
things  were  illuminated ;  power  was  given  to 
perform  what  before  seemed  difficult  —  the  im 
possible  was  rendered  possible;  my  former  life, 
carnal  in  its  origin  and  spent  in  sin,  was  an 
earthly  life ;  my  new  life,  animated  and  controlled 
by  the  Spirit,  is  a  life  in  God." 

Cyprian  was  reluctantly  called,  by  the  voice 
of  the  people,  in  a  time  of  trouble  and  distrac 
tion,  to  the  bishopric  of  Carthage.  He  nobly 
justified  their  choice.  Though  urging  the  loftiest 
claims  to  episcopal  and  church  authority,  and 
occasionally  betraying  what  may  justly  be  termed 
a  vehement  and  intolerant  spirit,  he  gave  him 
self  to  the  work  of  God  with  singular  energy 
and  zeal.  His  piety  and  benevolence,  his  charity 
and  patience,  were  celebrated  throughout  Africa, 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  385 

wherever  the  Christian  name  was  known.  Per 
secution  assailed  the  church.  He  nobly  breasted 
the  storm  when  necessary  for  the  defence  of  his 
flock,  but  retired  before  its  vehemence  whenever 
by  doing  so  he  could  best  accomplish  the  ends 
of  his  pastorate.  He  thus  escaped  death  during 
the  persecution  under  Decius,  and  returned  to 
Carthage  when  the  edicts  against  the  Christians 
were  suspended  by  Valerian.  He  was  soon, 
however,  called  to  bear  testimony  to  the  faith,  at 
the  hazard  of  his  life.  All  the  bishops  and 
teachers  of  the  Christian  church  were  condemned 
to  death.  It  was  a  time  of  peculiar  trial,  and 
Cyprian  felt  that  he  must  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  his  flock,  and  stand  in  the  breach.  He 
exhorted  all  to  patience  and  endurance.  When 
his  sentence  was  about  to  be  pronounced,  he 
quietly  awaited  what  might  befall  him,  at  his 
country  residence  near  Carthage,  which,  in  the 
fervor  of  his  first  love,  he  had  sold,  in  order  to 
assist  the  poor  with  the  money,  but  which  the 
attachment  of  his  church  had  restored  to  him. 
In  the  former  persecution  he  had  yielded  to  the 
dictates  of  prudence;  but  now,  no  entreaties 
from  friends,  and  even  from  men  of  note  among 
the  heathen,  who  proffered  him  an  asylum,  could 
induce  him  to  decline  that  public  confession 
which  he  believed  the  Lord  had  called  him  to 
make.  But  when  he  heard  that  he  war  to  be 
33 


386  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

taken  to  Utica,  where  the  proconsul  was  then 
staying,  that  he  might  be  executed  there,  he 
resolved  to  yield  for  a  season  to  the  advice  of  his 
friends,  "since,"  as  he  said,  "it  was  fitting  that 
the  bishop  should  confess  the  Lord  before  the 
church  over  which  the  Lord  hath  placed  him,  in 
order,  by  his  confession,  to  do  honor  to  the  whole 
church;  for  what  the  bishop  utters  at  such  a 
time,  by  the  inspiration  of  God,  he  utters  as  the 
voice  of  all." 

All  at  once  Cyprian  was  seized  by  a  guard, 
and  taken  to  the  proconsul;  but  as  long  as  the 
proconsul  remained  in  the  country  for  relaxation, 
Cyprian  was  not  examined.  Crowds  of  his 
brethren,  friends,  and  church  members  gathered 
around  him,  and  watched  his  prison  during  the 
night,  so  that  no  evil  might  befall  him.  The 
next  morning,  accompanied  by  a  great  multitude 
of  Christians  and  heathen,  he  was  led  to  judg 
ment.  The  place  was  at  some  distance,  and,  as 
the  proconsul  had  not  yet  arrived,  he  was  permit 
ted. to  retire  to  a  solitary  spot,  where,  exhausted, 
he  lay  down  upon  a  bench  that  he  found  there. 
A  soldier,  who  had  apostatized  from  Christianity, 
offered  him,  —  from  love  and  reverence,  and  from 
a  desire  to  secure  his  clothes  as  relics,  (for  the 
passion  for  relics  then  began  to  be  entertained  ; 
a  passion  natural,  but  easily  perverted,)  —  dry 
clothes  instead  of  his  own,  which  were  dripping 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  387 

with  sweat.  But  Cyprian  answered  him,  "  Shall 
I  be  anxious  to  be  free  from  discomfort,  when, 
perhaps,  to-morrow  I  shall  feel  nothing  at  all?" 

When  at  last  brought  before  the  proconsul, 
the  latter  thus  addressed  him  :  — 

Are  you  Thascius  Cyprianus  ? 

Cyp.     I  am. 

Pro.  You  have  suffered  yourself  to  be  made  a 
chief  of  these  men  holding  sacrilegious  opinions. 

Cyp.     I  have. 

Pro.  The  majesty  of  the  emperor  requires 
thee  to  perform  the  ceremonies  of  our  state 
religion. 

Cyp.     That  I  cannot  do. 

Pro.     Think  of  your  own  safety. 

Cyp.  Do  what  is  commanded  you.  There  is 
no  room  for  deliberation  in  so  clear  a  matter. 

To  the  same  deputy,  a  year  before,  he  had 
replied,  when  commanded  to  perform  idolatrous 
ceremonies,  "  I  am  a  Christian  and  a  bishop.  I 
know  no  other  deity  than  the  one  true  God,  who 
made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that 
therein  is.  This  God  we  Christians  serve;  to 
him  we  pray  day  and  night  for  ourselves  and  all 
other  men,  as  well  as  for  the  safety  of  those  very 
emperors." 

Thus  he  had  no  further  explanations  to  make, 
as  the  proconsul  knew  well  the  tenets  of  his  faith, 
and  that  there  was  only  one  alternative.  Hence 


388  CHRIST   IN   IIISTOIIT. 

Cyprian's  simple  reply  —  "  Do  what  is  commanded 
you" 

The  proconsul,  after  consulting  with  his  coun 
cil,  pronounced  the  following  sentence :  "  You 
have  lived  a  long  time  in  impiety,  and  have 
conspired  to  pervert  other  men  —  constituting 
yourself  the  enemy  of  the  Roman  gods  —  so 
that  the  pious  and  most  sacred  emperors  have 
been  unable  to  recall  you  to  the  observance  of 
the  holy  ceremonies.  Therefore,  as  you  are  the 
author  and  leader  of  these  flagrant  crimes,  you 
shall  be  made  a  warning  to  those  whom  you 
have  conjoined  with  you  in  your  wickedness." 

Cyp.     God  be  praised. 

He  was  followed  by  a  crowd  of  believers,  who 
wished  to  die  with  him ;  but  the  orders  of  the 
proconsul,  it  would  seem,  extended  only  to  the 
principal  men.  His  friends  and  disciples,  there 
fore,  were  permitted  to  attend  him  to  the  place 
of  execution,  where,  with  a  serene  courage, 
springing  from  his  confidence  in  God,  after  hav 
ing  presented  the  executioner  with  twenty  pieces 
of  gold,  he  sealed  his  testimony  with  his 
blood. 

We  now  turn  to  Origen,  whose  genius  and 
virtue  were  as  illustrious  as  his  piety  and  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  Christ.  In  him  the  philosophical 
spirit  developed  itself  in  connection  with  the  faith 
of  Christ,  giving  rise  to  some  errors,  and  yet  en- 


THE   PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  389 

riching  the  body  of  truth  and  the  great  stream  of 
civilization  with  elements  of  beauty  and  power. 
Origen  was  born  in  Alexandria,  the  magnifi 
cent  capital  of  Grecian  Egypt,  in  the  year  185, 
and  was  instructed  by  his  parents  in  the  truths 
of  the  Christian  religion.  He  received  the  best 
education  that  Alexandria  afforded,  and  in  early 
life  gave  indications  of  genius  and  strength  of 
character.  The  old  Grecian  philosophy,  ex 
tinguished  by  scepticism  in  its  native  haunts, 
revived  in  Alexandria  with  augmented  splendor. 
As  this  prosperous  city  was  the  emporium  of 
trade  and  luxury,  thither  nocked  all  sorts  of 
persons,  representatives  of  the  different  nations 
around  it,  merchants,  artisans,  politicians,  and 
scholars.  Learning  and  the  arts  were  somewhat 
fostered  by  the  government,  and  many  dis 
tinguished  thinkers  were  encouraged  to  open 
schools  of  philosophy.  Plato  revived  in  Philo. 
The  theosophy  of  the  east  and  the  speculations 
of  the  west  were  mingled  in  Ammonius  Saccas. 
In  a  word,  Alexandria  was  equally  eclectic  in 
population,  religion,  and  philosophy.  Chris 
tianity  came  in  as  a  new  and  all-comprehending 
power,  first  making  its  way  among  the  common 
people,  and  then  among  scholars  and  philosophers. 
Pantaenus  and  Clement  were  Christian  instruct 
ors,  and  felt  the  necessity  of  adapting  their 
teachings  to  the  condition  of  the  community. 
33* 


090  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Well  read  in  Grecian  learning,  as  well  as  in  the 
writings  of  prophets  and  apostles,  they  discovered 
points  of  harmony  where  others  had  seen  only 
discord  and  opposition.  The  grand  ideas  of  the 
Platonic  school  especially  found  a  response  in 
their  enlightened  minds,  and  were  easily  blended 
with  the  revelations  of  Christ.  Indeed,  they  saw 
in  the  fundamental  principles  of  Christianity  a 
manifestation  of  the  true  God  and  the  everlasting 
life  —  a  higher  philosophy,  in  whose  comprehen 
sive  unity  all  other  truth  might  find  its  place. 
These  were  the  teachers  of  Origen,  in  philosophy 
and  religion.  These  inspired  in  their  susceptible 
pupil  the  love  not  only  of  Christ,  but  of  the 
beautiful  and  true  in  nature  and  in  man.  In  his 
earliest  years  he  evinced  a  certain  grandeur  of 
thought  and  feeling.  Leonidas,  his  father,  while 
he  admired,  had  frequent  occasion  to  check  the 
inquisitive  and  aspiring  spirit  of  his  son.  Yet 
he  regarded  him  with  a  sort  of  reverence.  It  is 
related,  that,  when  leaning  over  his  sleeping  boy, 
the  father  would  reverently  kiss  that  bosom  as 
the  chosen  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  When 
his  father  was  cast  into  prison,  on  account  of  his 
religion,  during  the  persecution  under  Severus, 
Origen  exhorted  him  rather  to  suffer  martyrdom 
than  renounce  his  religion. 

This  persecution  was  a  severe  one.     It  raged 
not  only  in  Alexandria,  but  in  the  Thebais,  and 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  391 

throughout  Egypt.  Multitudes  suffered  martyr 
dom.  Ori°:en  himself  burned  to  win  a  crown 

o 

similar  to  the  one  that  now  hung  over  the  head  of 
his  father.  He  could  suffer  as  well  as  study  for 
Christ !  His  mother  besought  him  with  tears  not 
to  expose  himself  to  the  fury  of  the  persecutors. 
When  this  proved  unavailing,  she  resorted  to  the 
expedient  of  secreting  his  clothes,  and  thus  forced 
him  to  remain  at  home.  It  was  then  that  he 
wrote  to  his  father  not  to  permit  any  considera 
tions  of  his  family  to  shake  his  fidelity  to  Christ. 
The  good  old  man  was  led  forth  to  death,  and 
sealed  his  testimony  with  his  blood.  His  prop 
erty  was  confiscated;  and  the  youthful  Origen 
supported  his  mother  and  six  brothers  by  teach 
ing  the  Greek  language  and  literature. 

Shortly  afterwards,  the  persecution  was  re 
newed  with  increased  violence.  The  teachers 
of  the  Catechetical  school  sought  refuge  in  flight. 
Origen  was  asked  by  Demetrius,  the  bishop,  to 
supply  their  place.  He  did  so,  and  nobly  breasted 
the  fury  of  the  storm.  He  stood  by  the  side  of 
the  martyrs  during  their  trial,  exhorting  them  to 
fidelity,  comforted  them  in  their  prisons,  and 
accompanied  them  to  execution.  His  own  life 
was  frequently  in  danger,  but  he  contrived  to 
escape,  as  if  aided  by  some  miraculous  power. 
Six  of  his  pupils,  according  to  Eusebius,  suffered 
martyrdom;  but  he  continued  his  instructions 


392  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

with  a  constant  accession  of  students  and  hearers. 
His  labors  night  and  day  were  immense.  He 
read  and  prayed  alternately,  fasted  much,  and 
gave  alms  of  all  that  he  had.  Every  delicacy, 
including  wine,  and  even  shoes,  and  sometimes 
sleep  itself,  were  abjured.  Undaunted  and  self- 
sacrificing,  he  became  all  things  for  Christ. 

This  feeling  of  ascetic  severity,  noble  in  its 
principle  and  impulse,  was  exaggerated;  and 
Origen  was  led  to  mutilate  himself,  according  to 
what  he  deemed  the  command  of  Christ,  and  for 
the  sake  of  avoiding  .scandal  amid  the  crowd  of 
male  and  female  pupils  with  whom  he  mingled 
—  a  sad  mistake,  yet  indicating  the  iron  energy 
and  lofty  self-denial  of  the  man.  Well  might  he 
be  called  by  his  contemporaries  Adamantius; 
and  well  might  Eusebius  say  that  "  he  taught  as 
he  lived,  and  lived  as  he  taught," 

After  the  death  of  Severus,  Origen  went  to 
Rome,  where  he  gained  many  friends  and  ad 
mirers.  After  his  return,  he  continued,  at  the 
desire  of  the  Bishop  Demetrius,  his  catechetical 
instructions.  A  popular  tumult  compelled  him 
to  flee  to  Palestine,  where  he  was  held  in  such 
esteem  by  the  bishops,  that  they  encouraged 
him  to  preach  in  the  assemblies.  His  profound 
thought  and  persuasive  eloquence  won  all  hearts. 
Moved  with  jealousy,  as  it  is  supposed,  his  own 
bishop  recalled  him.  Subsequently  he  was  sent 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  393 

to  Achaia,  to  heal  some  divisions  there.  On  his 
way  to  Csesarea,  in  Palestine,  he  was  ordain 
ed  a  presbyter,  which  laid  the  foundation  of 
difficulties  and  controversies  with  the  Bishop 
Demetrius,  who  haughtily  claimed  entire  juris 
diction  over  the  movements  of  Origen,  and 
finally  degraded  him  from  the  ministry.  But 
Origen  had  a  great  mission  to  perform,  and  he 
meekly  continued  to  discharge  his  duties.  He 
was  encouraged  and  sustained  by  the  churches 
in  Achaia,  Phoenicia,  and  Arabia.  Denying  the 
errors  laid  to  his  charge,  he  went  to  live  at 
Coesarea,  where  he  taught  the  truths  of  Chris 
tianity  with  great  success.  In  the  year  231  his 
persecutor  died,  and  Origen  now  enjoyed  in 
tranquillity  his  well-deserved  reputation.  The 
celebrated  Gregory  Thaumaturgus  and  his 
brother  Athenodorus  employed  him  as  their 
instructor,  looking  up  to  him  with  affectionate 
respect. 

"When  peace  was  restored  to  the  church,  after 
the  persecution  under  Maximin,  during  which 
Origen  had  lain  in  concealment,  he  took  occa 
sion  to  travel  to  Athens.  Thence  he  went  to 
Arabia,  to  which  he  was  invited  by  the  bishops 
of  that  province,  to  refute  Bishop  Beryllus,  who 
denied  the  existence  of  our  Savior's  divine  na 
ture,  previous  to  his  incarnation.  Origen  spoke 
with  such  candor  and  eloquence,  that  Beryllus 


394  *          CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

renounced  his  errors,  and  thanked  him  for  his 
instructions.  He  was  equally  successful  with 
other  heretics  —  a  circumstance  which  must  be 
ascribed  to  the  wonderful  modesty,  gentleness, 
and  ability  of  the  man. 

In  the  new  persecution  under  Decius,  Origen 
played  a  conspicuous  part.  He  was  regarded  as 
a  pillar  of  the  church,  and  thrown  into  prison, 
where  he  was  subjected  to  the  cruelest  suffer 
ings,  which  he  bore  with  a  spirit  of  calm  hero 
ism  and  Christian  resignation.  Exhausted  by 
his  sufferings,  he  died  at  Tyre,  in  the  year  254. 

Origen  was  a  voluminous  writer,  but  the  most 
of  his  productions  are  lost.  The  others  are  some 
what  mutilated,  and,  in  all  probability,  interpo 
lated.  It  is  difficult,  therefore,  to  form  a  just 
estimate  of  his  philosophical  or  theological  opin 
ions.  He  spent  years  on  the  study  of  the  sacred 
writings  in  the  original  tongues.  He  did  much 
to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew 
text.  His  commentaries  are  often  fanciful,  and 
yet  profound  and  pious.  He  uses  the  allegorical 
mode  of  interpretation,  after  the  manner  of 
Philo,  and  finds  meanings  under  the  literal  im 
port,  sometimes  extravagant,  sometimes  rare 
and  beautiful.  In  this  respect,  however,  he  de 
parted  from  the  simplicity  of  Christ.  In  his 
great  work,  Contra  Cclsumy  he  vindicates  Chris 
tianity,  as  a  divine,  infallible  religion.  His  own 


THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  395 

soul  rejoiced  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  "  brightness 
of  the  Father's  glory,  and  the  express  image  of 
his  person."  Liberal  and  comprehensive,  he 
cherished  large  and  generous  views,  and  culti 
vated  a  spirit  of  true  Christian  charity.  Many 
of  his  speculations  are  simply  suggestions  and 
inquiries  after  the  manner  of  Plato  ;  he  never 
pressed  them  as  infallible  dogmas.  Not  thor 
oughly  appreciating  the  limits  of  human  inquiry, 
and  attaching  too  much  importance  to  the 
methods  of  philosophy,  at  that  time  ill  denned 
and  variant,  he  allowed  his  thoughts  to  wander 
into  the  untried  regions  of  speculative  conjec 
ture.  Enamoured  especially  of  Plato,  he  revelled 
amid  the  dreams  of  a  profound,  yet  imaginative 
theosophy.  Passing  from  the  outward,  arid  de 
spising  the  body,  he  sought  the  essential  and 
eternal  archetypes  of  things  in  the  bosom  of  God  — 
saw  there  the  unchangeable  essence,  and  finite 
procession  of  the  soul,  and  thus  taught  a  dogma 
akin  to  the  Platonic  transmigration.  Like  Plato, 
he  saw  the  spirit,  once  winged  and  holy,  fallen 
into  materialism  and  sin,  from  which,  struggling 
upward,  it  must  leave  the  body,  and  rejoin  the 
immortals.  From  the  same  view  he  deduced 
the  freedom  of  the  human  soul,  and  the  final 
restoration  of  all  to  purity  and  God.  To  him 
all  nature,  as  in  the  Platonic  theory,  was  vital 
and  conscious  —  the  stars  were  the  abodes,  per- 


396  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

haps  the  bodies,  of  living  souls,  whose  brightness 
or  dimness  corresponds  precisely  with  the  moral 
character  of  the  spirits  which  occupy  them.  An 
endless  succession  of  worlds  preceded  our  own, 
and  an  endless  succession  will  follow.  The  bad, 
revolving,  so  to  speak,  through  various  cycles 
and  transformations,  will  yet,  through  the  agency 
of  their  free  will,  and  the  love  of  Christ,  reach 
new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  prepared  for  their 
eternal  abode. 

Origen,  while  holding  the  humanity  of  Christ 
as  an  outer  expression  of  his  separate  spiritual 
existence,  maintained  his  supreme  divinity.  He 
saw  in  him  the  word  or  manifestation  of  the 
one  eternal  Father.  In  his  Contra  Celsum, 
replying  to  the  objection  of  his  opponent,  founded 
on  the  worship  paid  to  Christ,  who,  in  the  view 
of  the  heathen  philosopher,  was  a  mere  man,  he 
says,  "  We  worship,  therefore,  as  we  have  now 
shown,  one  God,  Father  and  Son,  and  our  argu 
ment  remains  as  impregnable  as  before.  We  do 
not  regard  with  an  excessive  veneration  one  who 
has  but  lately  appeared  among  men,  as  though 
he  had  no  existence  before.  We  believe  his  own 
word,  when  he  tells  us,  '  Before  Abraham  was  I 
am,'  as  also  when  he  says,  '  I  arn  the  truth.'  We 
are  none  of  us  so  stupid  as  to  think  that  the  Es 
sence  of  Truth  had  no  existence  before  the  time 


THE   PRIMITIVE    CHURCH.  397 

of  Christ's  appearance."*  Hence,  in  his  8th  Hom 
ily  on  Jeremiah,  he  says,  "  If  the  soul  have  not 
God  the  Father,  if  it  have  not  the  Son,  saying, 
*  I  and  my  Father  will  come  to  him,  and  will 
make  our  abode  with  him,'  if  it  have  not  the 
Holy  Spirit,  it  is  desolate." 

Thus  Cyprian  and  Origen  come  together  in 
their  love  and  reverence  for  Christ,  as  the  Way, 
the  Truth,  and  the  Life.  This  is  the  living  stream 
which  mingles  with  the  philosophy,  the  litera 
ture,  the  politics,  and  the  art  of  the  modern 
world.  We  shall  find  it  in  all  the  centuries, 
coursing  its  way  towards  the  grand  consumma 
tion  of  truth,  freedom,  and  righteousness,  yet 
to  come. 

*  Contra  Cel  lib.  viii.  12. 

34 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

CHRIST  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 

WE  have  seen  how  Christianity,  thrown  into 
the  crude  mass  of  humanity,  vitiated  and  en 
feebled  by  idolatry  and  lust,  won  amazing  tri 
umphs.  It  partook,  however,  in  its  actual 
embodiment  and  application,  of  the  spirit  and 
tendency  of  the  age.  At  heart,  the  Roman  em 
pire  was  corrupt,  and  destined  to  destruction, 
and  not  even  Christianity  could  finally  save  it. 
Indeed,  its  dismemberment  was  a  matter  not 
only  of  political,  but  of  moral  necessity.  The 
revolution  and  reconstruction  of  nations  is  one 
of  God's  methods  of  elevating  and  purifying 
society.  Old  forms  pass  away.  New  energies 
are  brought  into  free  and  generous  play.  Indeed, 
society,  in  its  best  form,  is  an  amalgam  ;  and  it 
required  the  Roman  and  the  Teutonic  elements, 
moulded  by  Christianity,  to  give  rise  to  the  new 
and  vigorous  organization  of  modern  society. 

Taken,  however,  into  the  embrace  of  the  state, 
first  by  Constantine,  and  subsequently  by  Char 
lemagne  and  Pepin,  as  an  organized  belief,  with 
its  hierarchy  of  forms  and  ministers,  Christianity 

(398) 


THE   MIDDLE   AGES.  399 

necessarily  lost  much  of  its  original  purity  and 
power.  Still,  no  amount  of  corruption  could 
divest  it  of  its  inherent,  life-giving  energy.*  It 
yet  spread,  after  the  disruption  of  the  Roman 
empire,  in  lines  of  renovation  and  blessing. 
The  idols  of  heathen  worship  were  abolished, 
and  the  worship  of  the  true  God  was  established 
in  many  barbarous  climes.  Idolatry  and  slavery, 
polygamy  and  gladiatorial  shows,  with  the  more 
unnatural  forms  of  lust,  so  common  among  the 
heathen,  disappeared  from  the  civilized  world. 

The  church,  however,  having  become  national 
and  hierarchical,  was  used  as  an  engine  of 
political  power.  Whole  nations  were  brought 
into  it  by  mere  baptism  or  conquest,  without  the 
slightest  reference  to  their  spiritual  state.  The 
conversion  of  a  warrior,  king,  or  chief,  insured 
the  conversion  of  his  people.  All  must  come 
under  the  yoke  of  Christ,  whether  they  under 
stand  the  gospel  or  not.  Some  of  the  northern 
barbarians,  who  overran  the  Roman  empire, 
were  nominal  Christians ;  others  were  pagans ; 
but  all  eventually  submitted  to  the  church ;  some 
from  superstition,  others  from  choice,  and  many 
from  policy  and  force.  The  consequences  can 

*  It  is  of  the  greatest  moment,  in  estimating  the  claims  of  Chris 
tianity,  to  distinguish  between  the  mere  human  form,  in  which  it  is 
embodied,  and  Christianity  itself,  which  never  changes.  The  Chris 
tianity  of  Christ,  or  of  the  Bible,  is  often  a  very  different  thing  from 
the  Christianity  of  man,  or  of  society. 


400  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

easily  be  foreseen.  Paganism  was  mingled  with 
Christianity.  The  virgin  mother  was  adored 
as  "the  queen  of  heaven,"  temples  were  turned 
into  churches,  and  churches  into  temples,  adorned 
with  images  of  the  saints,  and  smoking  with 
incense.  The  supper  of  our  Lord  was  made  a 
sacrifice,  having  a  greater  affinity  with  supersti 
tion  than  with  enlightened  religion.  The  Catho 
lic  church,  as  it  termed  itself,  with  some  grand 
redeeming  elements,  became  a  mere  external 
organization,  to  which  vast  additions  were  con 
stantly  made,  partly  by  persuasion,  and  partly 
by  violence.  Abjuring  the  first  element  of  our 
Savior's  kingdom,  which  is  spiritual  and  divine, 
and  thence  to  be  advanced  only  by  the  regenera 
tion  of  true  hearts,  in  a  free,  spontaneous  man 
ner,  the  Papal  organization  formed  itself  into  a 
hierarchy  of  material  forms  and  despotic  forces, 
and  insisted  upon  the  submission  of  the  world. 
The  Christian  people  were  excluded  from  all 
share  in  the  government  of  the  church  ;  and  free 
dom,  even  on  the  part  of  the  inferior  clergy,  was 
utterly  excluded.  The  sword  and  the  keys  were 
conjoined,  and  what  could  not  be  effected  by 
persuasion  was  effected  by  force.  Racks  and 
gibbets,  imprisonment  and  death,  as  well  as  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  were  the  means  em 
ployed  to  secure  this  result.  Undoubtedly,  both 
within  and  without  the  church  Catholic,  a  con- 


THE   MIDDLE   AGES.  401 

stant  protest  was  uttered  against  all  this ;  and 
here  and  there,  during  the  middle  ages,  we  find 
multitudes  of  good  Catholics,  as  well  as  Protest 
ants  or  heretics,  abjuring  these  anti- Christian 
principles,  and  cultivating,  as  best  they  could, 
the  spirit  of  a  pure  Christianity.  Rome,  with  all 
her  unity,  has  ever  been  a  unity  of  compromises  ; 
and,  as  she  still  possessed  the  word  of  God  and 
the  general  theory  of  the  gospel,  as  a  system 
of  reconciliation  and  reform,  she  retained,  not 
withstanding  her  corruptions,  some  regenerative 
power,  some  conservative  social  influence. 

Hence,  it  has  been  well  remarked,  that  "  we 
ought  to  distinguish  between  Catholicism  and 
Papacy."  The  Catholic  church,  in  itself  consid 
ered,  may  be  regarded  as  a  different  institution 
from  the  Papal  hierarchy.  The  latter  is  un 
questionably  anti- Christian  ;  the  former,  imperfect 
and  even  corrupt,  may  yet  embody,  and  undoubt 
edly  does  embody,  much  true  piety.  Immense, 
however,  were  the  abuses  of  the  Papacy,  and 
through  that  of  the  whole  Catholic  body,  at  the 
time  of  which  we  are  speaking.  They  had 
grown  to  such  enormity  in  the  days  of  Petrarch 
and  Dante,  that  these  two  poets,  Catholics  both, 
denounced  the  Roman  hierarchy,  popes,  cardi 
nals,  and  monks,  with  unmeasured  severity. 
Dante  does  not  hesitate  to  put  some  of  the  popes 
34* 


402  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

in  his  Inferno,  and  boldly  designates    Rome  as 
the  Babylon  of  the  Apocalypse,  exclaiming, — 

"  Ah  Constantino  !  to  how  much  ill  gave  birth, 
Not  thy  conversion,  but  that  plenteous  dower 
Which  the  first  wealthy  father  gave  to  thee."  * 

Petrarch,  who  had  seen,  especially  at  Avignon, 
the  horrible  corruptions  of  the  Papal  court,  pours 
upon  it  a  torrent  of  invective.f 

*  See  Inferno,  cxix.  Purgatorio,  xxxii. 

f  The  following  verses  will  give  an  idea  of  the  energy  with  which 
Petrarch  —  ordinarily  so  gentle  in  the  style  of  his  composition  — 
attacks  the  Roman  see  :  — 


"  The  fire  of  wrathful  Heaven  alight 
And  all  thy  harlot  tresses  smite, 

Base  city  !  Thou  from  humble  fare  — 
Thy  acorns  and  thy  water  —  rose 
To  greatness,  rich  with  others'  woes, 

Rejoicing  in  the  ruin  thou  didst  bear. 

"  Foul  nest  of  treason !  is  there  aught 
Wherewith  the  spacious  world  is  fraught 

Of  bad  or  vile,  'tis  hatched  in  thee, 
Who  revellest  in  thy  costly  meats, 
Thy  precious  wines,  and  curious  seats, 

And  all  the  pride  of  luxury. 

"  The  while,  within  thy  secret  halls, 
Old  men  in  seemly  festivals 

With  buxom  girls  in  dance  are  going  ; 
And  in  thy  midst  old  Beelzebub 
Eyes,  through  his  glass,  the  motley  club, 
The  fire  with  sturdy  bellows  blowing." 

Quoted  from  Lc  Rime  dfl  Pctrarcha,  (ed.  Lod.  Castelvetro,)  torn, 
i.  p.  325 ;  in  Dr.  McCries'  Hist,  of  the  Refor.  in  Italy,  p.  27. 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES.  403 

The  wonder  indeed  is,  that  Christianity  could 
live  in  such  a  system  at  all,  embarrassed  by 
superstition,  checked  by  bigotry,  enfeebled  by 
lust.  But  it  certainly  did,  and  this  we  regard  as 
one  of  the  proofs  of  its  divine  origin,  its  inher 
ent,  indestructible  energy.*  Roman  Catholicism, 
while  embodying  pagan  elements,  was  ever  supe 
rior  to  paganism,  and  in  a  barbarous  age  exerted 
over  society  some  conservative  and  reformatory 
influence.  Even  Merle  D'Aubigne  says  that 
"  important  services  were  rendered  by  Catholi 
cism  to  the  existing  European  nations,  in  the 
age  of  their  first  formation."  f  All  nationalities 
had  been  dissolved  in  the  destruction  of  the 
Roman  empire,  and  chaos  brooded  over  society. 
Christianity  formed  a  centre  to  the  whole,  and 
the  old  Teutonic  nations  crystallized  around  it. 
Thence  order  sprung  from  confusion,  and  all  the 
vital  elements  of  modern  society  were  developed. 

If  the  church,  in  consequence  of  her  power, 
became  corrupt,  and  oppressed  her  subjects,  she 
did  so  to  save  them  from  the  gulf  of  barbarism, 
into  which,  inevitably,  they  must  have  plunged. 
She  was  a  severe  and  bigoted  mother,  but  she 
preserved  her  children  from  fatal  anarchy  and 
absolute  political  destruction. 

*  This  is  what  Bunsen  (in  Hippolytus)  justly  styles  "  the  miracle 
of  the  last  fifteen  hundred  years."     See  Appendix,  note  II. 
•f-  Hist,  of  the  Reformation,  vol.  i,  p.  8. 


404  CHRIST    Itt   HISTOKY. 

Hence  Ranke  justly  and  strikingly  remarks, 
"  However  defective  the  civilization  we  have  de 
lineated,"  (the  combination  of  the  spiritual  and 
temporal  elements,  first  in  the  Frankish  empire, 
under  Charlemagne,  and  then  in  the  Germanic 
nations,  Christianized  and  united  under  the  Papal 
sway,  both  of  which  were  thus  preserved  from 
destruction,)  "  it  was  necessary  to  the  complete 
naturalization  of  Christianity  in  the  West.  It 
was  no  light  thing  to  subdue  the  haughty  spirits 
of  the  north,  the  nations  under  the  dominion  of 
ancestral  superstitions,  to  the  ideas  of  Christian 
ity.  It  was  necessary  that  the  religious  ^element 
should  predominate  for  a  time,  in  order  that  it 
might  gain  fast  hold  on  the  German  mind.  By 
this,  at  the  same  time,  was  effected  the  intimate 
blending  of  the  Roman  and  Germanic  elements. 
There  is  a  community  among  the  nations  of 
modern  times,  which  has  always  been  regarded 
as  the  main  basis  of  the  general  civilization,  a 
community  in  church  and  state,  in  manners,  cus 
toms,  and  literature.  In  order  to  produce  this, 
it  was  necessary  that  the  western  nations  should, 
for  a  time,  form,  as  it  were,  a  single  state,  tem 
poral  and  spiritual."  * 

By  this  means  the  institutions  of  the  church 
were  preserved  from  destruction  amid  the  gen 
eral  transition  and  change,  while  the  church  lent 

*  History  of  the  Popes,  vol.  i.  p.  40. 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES.  405 

its  aid  to  the  formation  of  national  character 
and  virtue.  The  period  indeed  was  abnormal, 
and  preparatory  to  something  higher  and  better, 
now  partially  developed  by  the  reformations  and 
revolutions  of  modern  times ;  but  it  was  neces 
sary,  under  God,  to  the  production  of  that  form 
of  Christian  civilization  yet  to  triumph  in  all 
lands. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  Macaulay  speaks  of 
the  conversion  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  to  Christi 
anity,  as  "the  first  of  a  long  series  of  salutary 
revolutions,"  and  adds,  "It  is  true  that  the 
church,  had  been  deeply  corrupted  both  by  that 
superstition  and  that  philosophy  against  which 
she  had  long  contended,  and  over  which  she 
had  at  last  triumphed.  She  had  given  a  too 
easy  admission  to  doctrines  borrowed  from  the 
ancient  schools,  and  to  rites  borrowed  from  the 
ancient  temples.  Roman  policy  and  Gothic 
ignorance,  Grecian  ingenuity  and  Syrian  ascet 
icism,  had  contributed  to  deprave  her.  Yet  she 
retained  enough  of  the  sublime  theology  and  benev 
olent  morality  of  her  earlier  days  to  elevate  many 
intellects  and  to  purify  many  hearts.  Some  things, 
also,  which,  at  a  later  period,  were  justly  re 
garded  as  among  her  chief  blemishes,  were  in 
the  seventh  century,  and  long  afterwards,  among 
her  chief  merits.  That  the  sacerdotal  order 
should  encroach  on  the  duty  of  the  chief  magis- 


406  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

trate,  would,  in  our  time,  be  a  great  evil.  But 
that  which  in  an  age  of  good  government  is  an 
evil,  may  in  an  age  of  grossly  bad  government  be 
a  blessing.  It  is  better  that  mankind  should  be 
governed  by  wise  laws  well  administered,  and 
by  an  enlightened  -public  piety,  than  by  priest 
craft,  than  by  brute  violence,  by  such  a  prelate 
as  Dunstan  than  by  such  a  warrior  as  Penda. 
A  society  sunk  in  ignorance,  and  ruled  by  mere 
physical  force,  has  great  reason  to  rejoice,  when 
a  class,  of  which  the  influence  is  intellectual 
and  moral,  rises  to  ascendency.  Such  a  class 
will  doubtless  abuse  its  power ;  but  mental  pow 
er,  even  when  abused,  is  still  a  nobler  and  better 
power  than  that  which  consists  merely  in  cor 
poreal  strength.  We  read  in  the  Anglo-Saxon 
chronicles  of  tyrants,  who,  when  at  the  height 
of  greatness,  were  smitten  with  remorse,  who 
abhorred  the  pleasures  and  dignities  which  they 
had  purchased  by  guilt,  who  abdicated  their 
crowns,  and  who  sought  to  atone  for  their  of 
fences  by  cruel  penances  and  incessant  prayers. 
Those  stories  have  drawn  forth  bitter  expressions 
of  contempt  from  some  writers,  who,  while  they 
boasted  of  liberality,  were  in  truth  as  narrow 
minded  as  any  monk  of  the  dark  ages,  and 
whose  habit  was  to  apply  to  all  events  in  the 
history  of  the  world  the  standard  received  in  the 
Parisian  society  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Yet 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES.  407 

surely  a  system  which,  however  deformed  by  su 
perstition,  introduced  strong  moral  restraints  into 
communities  previously  governed  only  by  vigor  of 
muscle  and  audacity  of  spirit  —  a  system  which 
taught  the  fiercest  and  mightiest  ruler  that  he 
was,  like  his  meanest  bondman,  a  responsible 
being,  might  have  seemed  to  deserve  a  more 
respectable  mention  from  philosophers  and  phi 
lanthropists."  .  .  . 

"  Even  the  spiritual  supremacy  arrogated  by 
the  pope  was,  in  the  dark  ages,  productive  of 
far  more  good  than  evil.  Its  effect  was  to  unite 
the  nations  of  Western  Europe  in  one  great 
commonwealth.  What  the  Olympian  chariot 
course  and  the  Pythian  oracle  were  to  all  the 
Greek  cities,  from  Trebizond  to  Marseilles,  Rome 
and  her  bishop  were  to  all  Christians  of  the 
Latin  communion  from  Calabria  to  the  Hebrides. 
Thus  grew  up  sentiments  of  enlarged  benevolence. 
Races  separated  from  each  other  by  seas  and 
mountains  acknowledged  a  fraternal  tie  and  a 
common  code  of  public  law.  Even  in  war  the 
cruelty  of  the  conqueror  was  not  seldom  mitigated 
by  the  recollection  that  he  and  his  vanquished 
enemies  were  all  members  of  one  great  federa 
tion."  * 

If,  in  the  view  of  some,  this  statement  require 
some  slight  modification,  it  must  be  admitted 

*  History  of  England,  vol.  i.  pp.  6-8. 


408  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

that  the  institution  of  Christianity,  in  its  funda 
mental  principles,  was  the  means  not  only  of 
individual  regeneration,  but  of  social  and  politi 
cal  progress,  and  that  it  possessed  this  character 
in  spite  of  Papal  assumption  and  superstition, 
especially  in  the  earlier  periods  of  its  history. 
It  was  under  the  Pontificate  of  the  second 
Gregory,  (A.  D.  590,)  who,  with  all  his  ambition, 
was  an  honest,  earnest  man,  that  we  see  Chris 
tianity  grasping  the  dissolving  elements  of  soci 
ety,  and  constructing  them  into  those  permanent 
forms  from  which  Christendom  has  derived  its 
civilization.  It  was  then,  too,  that  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  acquired  that  dominion,  which,  benefi 
cial  in  its  first  exercise,  at  last  all  but  extin 
guished  pure  religion,  as  well  as  political  free 
dom.  Such  was  the  desolation  around  him, 
that  Gregory  felt  that  society  had  come  to  its 
termination,  and  that  the  judgment  was  about 
to  ensue.  "  Every  where,"  he  says,  "  we  behold 
sorrow  ;  on  every  side  we  hear  groans.  Cities 
are  destroyed,  fortresses  are  pulled  down,  the 
fields  are  laid  waste,  the  land  is  become  desolate. 
The  villages  are  empty,  and  scarcely  an  inhabit 
ant  is  left  in  the  cities;  and  even  thiVsmall  rem 
nant  of  the  human  race  is  daily  and  incessantly 
massacred.  The  scourge  of  divine  justice  does 
not  rest,  because  no  amendment  has  followed 
under  it.  "We  see  how  some  are  dragged  to 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES.  409 

prison,  some  are  mutilated,  others  are  put  to 
death."* 

In  these  circumstances  Gregory  had  not  only 
to  preach  the  gospel,  and  administer  its  conso 
lations,  but,  as  a  vassal  of  the  Greek  empire,  to 
take  measures  for  the  defence  of  the  country, 
"  placed  between  the  Longobards,  thirsting  for 
conquest,  the  governors  of  the  Greek  empire, 
often  forgetful  of  their  duties,  and  a  court  full 
of  intrigues."  He  was  equal  to  the  emergency. 
His  influence  grew  apace.  Italy  was  saved,  and 
the  northern  barbarians  were  brought  under  the 
yoke  of  Christ. 

That  Gregory  II.,  and  many  others  devoted 
to  the  building  up  of  the  Roman  church,  and 
the  aggrandizement  of  the  Papacy,  such  as  Bon 
iface  the  apostle  of  the  Germans,  who  caused 
his  followers  to  swear  allegiance  to  St.  Peter 
and  the  see  of  Rome,  were  disinterested  Chris 
tian  men,  cannot  be  doubted.  Their  influence, 
in  one  aspect  of  the  case,  may  seem  to  be  bad, 
as  they  sanctioned  grievous  errors  and  corrup 
tions  in  the  church  of  Christ;  but  in  another, 
and  that  the  most  important,  it  was  good,  and 
only  good.  It  gave  Christianity  and  civilization 
to  the  Germanic  natioris.f 

*  Ncander's  Memorials,  &c.,  p.  387. 

f  Upon  this  subject  consult  the  works  of  Guizot,  Hallam,  Mait- 
land,  and  Sismondi. 

35 


410  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

But  it  is  in  secret,  and  especially  in  the  hearts 
of  individual  men,  that  God  accomplishes  his 
purposes  of  grace.  It  is  the  hidden  leaven, 
which,  in  the  long  run,  regenerates  society.  In 
the  case  of  the  church  of  the  "  dark  ages,"  this 
work  was  perpetuated,  even  by  means  of  imper 
fect  institutions.  And  this  is  doubtless  the 
reason  why  the  providence  of  God  permitted 
the  Papal  organization  to  exist,  during  this  cha 
otic  and  transitional  era.  The  thorns  which 
grew  up  around  the  delicate  flower  of  true  re 
ligion,  while  they  diminished  its  beauty  and 
stifled  its  perfume,  yet  protected  it  from  ruthless 
invasion.  The  church,  in  the  period  of  her  deep 
est  degradation,  was  not  all  bad.  Hence  we 
find  in  her  bosom  noble  spirits,  devout  and 
learned  men,  self-denying,  and  laborious  mis 
sionaries'  What  beautiful  details,  for  example, 
are  given  by  Neander,  in  his  Memorials  of  the 
Christian  Life,  Light  in  Dark  Places,  and  the 
Life  of  St.  Bernard,  as  well  as  in  his  Church 
History,  of  such  men  as  Patrick  and  Columban, 
of  Fulgentius  and  Severinus,  Germanus  and 
Lupus,  Cocsarius  of  Aries,  and  Eligius,  Bishop 
of  Noyon,  the  venerable  Bede,  Gallus  the  apos 
tle  of  Switzerland,  the  Abbot  Sturm  of  Fulda, 
Martin  of  Tours,  Anschar  the  apostle  of  the 
north,  (who  in  his  dreams  heard  a  voice  urging 
him  to  preach  the  gospel  in  Scandinavia,  and 
saying,  "  Go,  and  return  to  me  crowned  with 


THE    MIDIMLK    AGES.  411 

martyrdom,")  Otto  Bishop  of  Bamberg,  and  that 
strange,  martyr  spirit,  mystic,  philosopher,  and 
missionary,  Raimund  Lulli !  During  the  centu 
ries  designated  by  historians  as  preeminently 
"dark  ages,"  some  faithful  Christian  men  and 
devoted  missionaries  were  at  work,  in  various 
countries,  sowing  the  seed  of  life  "  beside  all 
waters."  All  around  them  lay  the  thick  shadows 
of  ignorance  and  superstition ;  but  by  the  bless 
ing  of  Heaven,  they  kept  the  lamp  of  truth  bright 
and  clear,  until  the  day  dawned,  and  the  day- 
star  arose  upon  the  nations. 

Even  monasteries,  in  early  times  the  natural 
resort  of  persecuted  Christianity,  liable  as  they 
were  to  the  grossest  corruption,  were  frequently 
the  refuge  of  piety  and  worth.  Thence  issued 
many  of  those  self-denying  men,  who  by  their 
toils  and  prayers  made  the  wilderness  to  blossom 
as  the  rose.  Here,  too,  were  preserved,  Tor  the 
benefit  of  succeeding  generations,  not  only  the 
word  of  God  and  the  works  of  the  Christian 
fathers,  but  all  the  extant  literature  of  the  times. 
"  The  church,"  says  Macaulay,  with  reference  to 
this  fact,  "  has  many  times  been  compared  by 
divines  to  that  ark  of  which  we  read  in  the 
Book  of  Genesis  ;  but  never  was  the  resem 
blance  more  perfect  than  during  that  evil  time 
when  she  alone  rode,  amid  darkness  and  tem 
pest,  on  the  deluge,  beneath  which  all  the  great 


412  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

works  of  ancient  power  and  wisdom  lay  in- 
tombed,  bearing  within  her  that  feeble  germ 
from  which  a  second  and  more  glorious  civiliza 
tion  was  to  spring." 

All  must  acknowledge  that  a  certain  moral  as 
well  as  political  grandeur  attaches  to  the  half- 
civilized  Charlemagne  and  his  Frankish  kingdom, 
and  the  generous  but  unsuccessful  efforts  which 
he  made  to  give  unity  and  civilization  to  his 
empire.  It  paved  the  way  for  the  Germanic 
confederation,  and  the  civilization  of  France  and 
Germany.  The  monk  Alcuin  and  the  schools 
which  he  founded,  the  mediaeval  .philosophy,  par 
ent  of  modern  speculative  thought,  and  the  tran 
sition  from  the  Greek  and  Alexandrine  schools  to 
that  of  our  more  recent  philosophy,  were  the  fruit 
of  Christianity.  Some,  who  know  little  of  it, 
affect  to  despise  the  scholastic  philosophy ;  but, 
with  all  its  faults,  it  marvellously  disciplined  the 
human  intellect,  and  prepared  the  way  for  the 
high  mental  achievements  of  the  present  age. 
Full  of  defects,  and  even  absurdities,  like  the 
age  from  which  it  sprang,  ofter  all,  as  Leibnitz 
suggests,  there  was  aurum  in  illo  cocno.  One  of 
its  grandest  features  was  its  recognition  of  the 
absolute  Jehovah,  not  simply  in  nature,  where 
he  seems  an  impersonal  Power,  but  in  Christ, 
where  he  reveals  himself  as  "  the  Father  of  us 
all."  This  gave  scope  and  strength  to  its  specu- 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES.  413 

lations  upon  the  true,  the  good,  the  holy,  which 
all  the  efforts  of  Grecian  genius  could  not  reach. 
It  assisted  in  laying  the  foundation  of  a  vast 
structure,  not  only  of  speculative  thought,  but 
of  Christian  morality. 

The  mediaeval  church,  as  we  call  it,  by  which  is 
usually  meant  the  church  of  the  twelfth  century, 
—  a  strange  gothic  structure  of  truth  and  error, 
of  barbarism  and  refinement,  based  upon  the 
highest  truths  and  the  most  extravagant  assump 
tions,  —  was  thus  not  without  some  aspects  of 
beauty  and  worth.  Beneath  the  magnificent 
abbey  or  cathedral,  which  symbolized  its  spirit, 
lay  deep  dungeons,  and  sometimes  inquisitorial 
halls,  where  the  groans  of  the  poor  persecuted 
heretic  were  heard  at  the  dead  of  night;  but  the 
cathedral  itself  was  a  thing  of  beauty,  and 
echoed  a  grand,  and  sometimes  a  heartfelt  wor 
ship.  As  in  Dante's  great  poem,  which  has  been 
called  the  flowering  of  the  middle  ages,  so  here 
we  find  puerile  superstitions  and  atrocious  big 
otries,  mingled  with  lofty  sentiments  and  grace 
ful  forms.  Besides,  a  power  was  yet  at  work  in 
the  souls  of  men,  and  in  the  heart  of  society, 
which  all  the  folly  of  the  times  could  not  extin 
guish.  Truth  struggled  for  supremacy,  and  kept 
its  hold  of  the  secret  conscience.  God  had  his 
chosen  ones,  both  within  and  without  the  pale 
of  the  Papal  church.  The  world  was  not  de- 
35* 


414  CUBIST    IN   HISTORY. 

serted  by  the  Son  of  God.  His  spirit  of  love 
yet  throbbed  in  many  penitent,  believing  hearts. 
Here  and  there,  in  mountains  and  in  valleys,  and 
even  in  the  depths  of  cities,  might  be  found  clus 
ters  of  holy  confessors,  and  faithful  Christians, 
bound  to  God  and  to  one  another  by  eternal  ties. 
In  the  solitude  of  cloisters,  with  all  their  evils, 
Christian  scholars  meditated  upon  divine  things, 
and  sent  forth  into  the  world  the  light  of  eternal 
truth. 

Such  thinkers  as  Anselm  and  Aquinas,  the 
one  in  England,  the  other  in  Italy,  ranged  through 
the  loftiest  realms  of  thought,  combining  the 
claims  of  reason  and  religion,  and  blending, 
not  only  in  their  works,  but  in  their  lives,  the 
highest  philosophy  with  the  deepest  piety.*  The 
night  indeed,  so  far  as  our  common  Christianity 
was  concerned,  seemed  dark  and  portentous,  but 
ever  and  anon  the  stars  appeared  in  the  peaceful 
heavens.  The  love  of  God,  revealed  in  Christ  as 
a  secret  power,  brooded  over  the  troubled  elements. 
Angels  of  mercy  visited  the  earth,  in  the  persons 
of  self-denying  men  ;  of  devout,  disinterested  wo 
men.  The  river  of  life  was  hidden  amid  gloomy 
woods  and  precipices,  but  it  kept  its  silent  course, 

*  In  Anselm,  who  may  be  called  the  Plato  of  the  middle  ages, 
the  philosophy  of  that  day  culminated.  His  Cur  Dcus  Homo  gives, 
in  its  germ,  the  great  fact  or  principle  yet  destined  to  solve  the 
practical  difficulties  of  "  the  higher  philosophy."  For  some  account 
of  Anselm  and  Aquinas,  see  Appendix,  Note  I. 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES.  415 

and  in  due  time  reappeared  in  the  smiling  land 
scape.  There  were  reformers  before  the  Refor 
mation,  martyrs  for  truth  and  freedom  in  the 
darkest  days  of  bigotry  and  lust.* 

Much  fine  character  and  many  generous  im 
pulses  were  nourished  by  Christianity  among  the 
Germanic  tribes.  Superstitious  and  somewhat 
savage,  but  masculine  and  generous,  the  old  Ger 
man  heart  loved  the  truth,  and,  we  may  add, 
loved  God.  This  gave  them  nationality  and 
force  of  character.  This  nourished  among  them 
many  lofty,  self-sacrificing  souls.  They  suffered 
indeed,  a  long  night  of  despotism  and  bigotry, 
but  at  last  the  fire  of  freedom  and  Christianity 
began  to  burn.  "  The  friends  of  God  "  ( Gottes- 
freunde,  as  they  called  themselves)  appeared. 
These  were  partly  laymen,  partly  priests  or 
monks,  among  whom  were  the  mystics  Eckart, 
Suso,  Tauler,  and  the  anonymous  author  of 
"  The  German  Theology,"  all  longing  for  purity 
and  freedom,  loving  God  and  the  truth.  These 
uttered  the  first  living  word  for  evangelical 
Christianity,  and  exemplified  it  in  their  lives. f 

*  See  the  works  of  Bonnechose  and  Ullmann  on  Reformers  before 
the  Reformation. 

f  To  the  same  class  belong  John  Ruysbroek,  Thomas  a  Kempis, 
and  John  Charlier  Gerson.  At  least  they  were  animated  by  the  same, 
spirit  and  exerted  the  same  influence.  Luther  refers  to  John  Tauler, 
called  Doctor  Sublimi-s  et  Illuminatus,  in  terms  of  affectionate  venera 
tion.  Writing  to  Spalatinehe  says,  "Si  te  delectat puram,  solidam 
antiquae  simillimam  theologiam  legere,  in  Germanica  lingua  effu- 


416  CIIKIST    IN    HISTORY. 

A  similar  spirit  animated  many  French  divines 
and  Christians.  The  Huguenots  date  far  back 
for  the  first  origin  of  their  faith.*  Peter  Waldo 
and  the  poor  men  of  Lyons  were  not  alone  in  their 
attachment  to  the  truth.  It  is  well  known  that 
an  immense  influence  was  exerted  in  later  times 
by  Gerson,  of  Paris,  the  Doctor  Christianissimus 
of  the  schools,  a  true  Christian  philosopher,  who 
laid  his  vast  learning  at  the  cross  of  Christ,  and 
deemed  all  science  as  nothing  in  comparison 
with  the  practical  knowledge  and  love  of  God. 
He  wrote  a  profound  treatise  on  spiritual  the 
ology,  called  Mystica  Theologia.  In  his  old  age 
he  abandoned  his  literary  and  even  ecclesiastical 
honors,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  education  of 
little  children,  for  whose  benefit  he  wrote  a  re 
markable  treatise,  De  Parvulis  ad  Deum  ducen- 
dis,  Of  the  art  of  leading  little  children  to  God. 
Though  he  never  left  the  Catholic  church,  and  in 

sam,  sermones  Johannis  Tauleri,  prsedicatorise  professionis  tibi 
compare  potes."  The  anonymous  Little  Book  on  German 
Theology  (Buchlein  der  Deutschen  Theologie)  was  first  pub 
lished  A.  D.  1516,  by  Luther,  with  a  recommendatory  preface, 
in  which  he  says,  "  Next  to  the  Bible  and  St.  Augustine,  I  do  not 
know  of  any  book  from  which  I  have  learnt  better  what  God,  Christ, 
man,  and  all  things  are."  The  true  name  of  Thomas  a  Kempis  was 
Thomas  Hamerken  of  Kempen.  He  was  sub-prior  of  the  Augus- 
tinian  monks  on  St.  Agnes  Mount  near  Zwoll,  and  died  A.  D.,  1471. 
His  Imitation  of  Christ,  however,  has  been  ascribed  by  some  (Cousin, 
for  example)  to  Abbot  Gersen,  or  John  Gerson.  John  Charlier 
Gerson,  Chancellor  of  Paris,  died  A.  D.  1429. 

*  See  De  Felice's  History  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  France. 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES.  417 

his  earlier  years  defended  some  of  its  corruptions, 
he  was  a  Protestant  at  heart,  as  his  writings  tes 
tify.  His  views  were  more  conservative  than  those 
of  WiclifF,  nay,  in  some  respects,  opposed  to  his, 
yet,  in  the  end,  they  exerted  a  similar  influence.  If 
WiclifF  was  "the  morning  star"  of  the  Reforma 
tion  in  England,  Gerson  was  such  in  France  and 
Germany.  The  latter  country,  in  which  his  writ 
ings  advocating  reform  in  the  church  were  exten 
sively  read,  received  from  Gerson  a  powerful 
impulse  in  favor  of  evangelical  religion. 

How  many  followers  had  Arnoldo  of  Brescia, 
and  Savonarola  of  Florence,  and  what  noble 
sentiments  of  civil  and  religious  freedom  did  they 
promulgate,  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives.  Black 
ened  as  their  characters  have  been  by  the  emis 
saries  of  the  Papal  church,  both  were  men  of 
singular  piety  and  heroic  virtue.  Born  out  of 
due  time,  they  sought  for  a  freedom  which  they 
could  not  realize,  and  so  died  for  the  truth.  One 
of  his  enemies,  Tritemio,  makes  Arnoldo  address 
the  following  words  to  the  pope  and  cardinals  : 
"  I  call  heaven  and  earth  to  witness  that  I  have 
announced  to  you  these  things  which  the  Lord 
has  commanded.  But  you  despise  both  me  and 
your  Creator.  Nor  is  it  wonderful  that  you  are 
about  to  put  me,  a  simple  man,  to  death,  for 
preaching  to  you  the  truth,  siiu-o,  if  even  St. 
Peter  were  to  arise  from  the  dead  this  day,  and 


CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

were  to  reprove  your  many  vices,  ye  would  by 
no  means  spare  him."  * 

In  England,  as  early  as  the  thirteenth  century, 
we  find  Grostete  (Greathead)  Bishop  of  Lincoln 
protesting  against  the  abuses  of  the  Papacy,  and 
vindicating  his  allegiance  to  Christ.  He  died 
rejoicing  in  the  truth,  having  maintained  his 
integrity  to  the  end,  in  opposition  to  the 
power  of  Rome,  and  was  recognized  in  that  day, 
by  the  voice  of  the  community,  "  as  a  searcher 
of  the  Scriptures,  an  adversary  of  the  pope,  and 
the  despiser  of  the  Romans."  Sewal  Arch 
bishop  of  York  professed  similar  sentiments; 
for  "the  more  the  pope  cursed  him,  the  more  the 
people  blessed  him."  Thomas  Bradwardine,  in 
the  fourteenth  century,  chaplain  of  Edward  III. 
and  subsequently  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  one 
of  the  most  amiable  and  learned  men  of  his  day, 
and  a  humble  follower  of  Christ,  bore  ample 
testimony  to  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
gospel.f. 

The  Scriptures,  or  portions  of  them,  must  have 
been  translated  into  Italian  at  a  very  early  period, 
and  hence,  under  the  very  shadow  of  the  Roman 
see,  the  grace  of  God  was  found  working  in  the 

*  Ego  testem  inroco  ccelum,  etc.  Quoted  from  the  North  Brit 
ish  Review  from  Tritemius. 

t  Some  interesting  details  with  reference  to  similar  characters 
in  England  previous  to  the  Reformation,  may  be  found  in  the 
fifth  volume  of  Merle  D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Reformation. 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES.  419 

hearts  of  humble  and  inquiring  souls.  Frag 
ments  of  such  translations  appeared  in  the  four 
teenth  century.  In  1471  a  version  of  the  Scrip 
tures,  by  Nicolo  Malermi,  or  Malerbi,  was  pub 
lished  at  Venice,  and  is  said  to  have  gone 
through  nine  editions  in  that  century,  and  twelve 
in  the  succeeding.  A  better  one  appeared  in 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  by  Anto 
nio  Brucioli.  His  edition  of  the  New  Testa 
ment  was  published  at  Venice  for  the  first  time 
in  1530,  and  the  whole  Bible  two  years  later. 
Other  versions  rapidly  followed.  The  revival 
of  learning  introduced  not  only  the  Greek  clas 
sics,  but  editions  of  the  Greek  Testament  and  of 
the  Septuagint,  which  fell  into  the  hands  of 
thoughtful  scholars.  "The  works  of  Augustine 
and  other  Christian  fathers  were  also  more  or  less 
studied.  Giovanni  Pico,  one  of  the  greatest 
scholars  of  his  day,  who  had  mastered  twenty- 
two  languages  before  he  was  twenty-five,  and 
died  in  1494,  in  the  thirty-second  year  of  his 
age,  was  a  true  Christian.  His  spirit,  breathed 
through  his  writings,  is  remarkably  evangelical. 
Indeed  he  narrowly  escaped  being  burned  as  a 
heretic.  Many  valuable  commentaries  on  the 
sacred  Scriptures  were  written  by  learned  and 
pious  men,  at  a  very  early  period,  both  in  Italy 
and  elsewhere.  The  relation  of  Nicholas  Lyra 
to  Luther  was  made  the  subject  of  a  lively  pun 


420  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

in  the  days  of  the  latter :  Si  Lyra  non  lyrasset, 
Lutherus  non  saltasset.  If  Lyra  had  not  sung-, 
Luther  had  not  danced. 

In  the  days  of  Tasso  and  Queen  Renee,  a 
noble  and  pious  woman,  how  many  Italians 
were  found  in  Ferrara  and  other  parts  of  Italy, 
animated  by  the  deepest  piety,  just  at  the  break 
ing  forth  of  the  Reformation  !  It  is  true,  the 
works  of  the  Reformers  had  reached  Italy,  but 
they  found  in  these  Italian  hearts  a  congenial 
soil.  Some  of  these  were  members  of  the 
Papal  church,  and  others  were  Protestants.  Vit- 
toria  Colonna,  the  far-famed  Marchioness  of  Pes- 
cara,  the  friend  of  Michael  Angelo  and  Olympia 
Morata,  was  at  heart  a  Protestant.  After  the 
death  of  her  husband,  she  devoted  herself  to 
study  and  works  of  piety.  Her  poems  and  let 
ters,  some  of  them  of  great  beauty,  are  imbued 
with  a  profoundly  religious  spirit.  Her  corre 
spondence  with  Olympia  Morata  and  others 
shows  that  her  heart  was  given  to  Christ.  How 
touchingly  does  she  console  a  friend  for  the  loss 
of  her  brother,  "  whose  serene  spirit  had  entered 
into  eternal  peace ! "  Thence  she  adds,  that 
"  she  ought  not  to  lament,  since  she  could  now 
converse  with  him  ;  his  absences,  once  so  frequent 
could  no  longer  hinder  him  being  understood  by 
her."  Nor  was  her  piety  of  a  monastic  order ; 
for  Aretino  thus  writes  of  her,  "that  it  was  certain- 


THE    MIDDLE   AGES.  421 

ly  not  her  opinion  that  the  muteness  of  the 
tongue,  or  the  casting  down  of  the  eyes,  or  the 
coarse  garment,  availed  any  thing,  but  the  pure 
soul." 

Even  under  the  shadow  of  the  court  of  the 
polished  but  profligate  Leo  X.  a  few  distinguished 
men  of  Rome  had  established  the  "  Oratory  of 
Divine  Love "  for  their  common  edification. 
"  In  the  church  of  S.  Sylvestro  and  S.  Dorotea, 
in  the  Trastevere,  not  far  from  the  spot  where 
St.  Peter  was  thought  to  have  lived  and  to  have 
presided  over  the  first  meeting  of  Christians, 
they  assembled  for  divine  worship,  preaching  and 
spiritual  exercises.  They  met  to  the  number  of 
fifty  or  sixty.  Contarini,  Sadoleto,  Giberto, 
Caraffa,  all  of  whom  afterwards  became  cardi 
nals,  Gaetano  de  Thiene,  who  was  canonized, 
Lippornano,  a  theological  writer  of  great  reputa 
tion  and  influence,  and  some  other  celebrated 
men,  were  amongst  them.  Giuliano  Bathi,  the 
priest  of  that  church,  served  as  a  centre  of  the 
circle." 

Quite  an  interesting  group  of  pious  souls, 
some  of  them  men  of  considerable  eminence, 
might  be  found,  about  the  same  time,  in  Venice. 
There  the  celebrated  Benedictine  monk  Bernar 
dino  Ochino,  one  of  the  greatest  preachers  of 
the  age,  vindicated  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith,  giving  force,  by  the  purity  and  elevation 
36 


422  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

of  his  life,  to  the  impassioned  appeals  of  his 
eloquence.  He  was  heard  with  delight  by  Bem- 
bo,  Caraffa,  and  Vittoria  Colouna.  Afterwards 
persecuted  as  a  Protestant,  he  delighted,  by  his 
sincerity  and  fervor,  multitudes,  who  were  sub 
sequently  horrified  by  his  open  Protestantism. 
"  I  opened  my  heart  to  him,"  says  Bembo,  "  as 
to  Christ  himself.  It  seemed  to  me  I  had  never 
beheld  a  holier  man." 

At  the  house  of  Pietro  Bembo,  subsequently 
cardinal,  which  was  open  to  all  who  chose  to 
attend,  the  conversation,  though  chiefly  literary 
and  often  frivolous,  sometimes  turned  upon 
more  important  matters.  It  assumed  a  deeper 
and  more  pious  tone  at  that  of  fne  learned 
Gregorio  Cortese,  the  Abbot  of  San  Giorgo 
Maggiore  at  Venice.  Marco  of  Padua  was  a 
man  of  the  deepest  piety.  It  was  from  him 
that  Pole  professed  to  derive  spiritual  nutriment. 
But  the  most  eminent  of  all  was  Caspar  Con- 
tarini,  of  whom  Pole  said  that  he  was  ignorant 
of  nothing  that  the  human  mind  could  discover 
by  its  own  research,  and  that  he  crowned  his 
knowledge  with  virtue.  Contarini  wrote  a  trea 
tise  on  the  doctrine  of  justification,  of  which 
Cardinal  Pole  speaks  in  terms  of  the  highest 
praise.  "  You  have  brought  to  light,"  says  he, 
"  the  jewel  which  the  church  kept  half  concealed." 
Would  to  God  that  Pole  himself  had  carried  out 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES.  423 

his  earlier  and  better  views,  for  he  speaks  of  this 
doctrine  as  "  holy,  indispensable,  fruitful  truth." 
"  The  gospel,"  says  Contarini,  in  one  of  his 
letters,  "  is  no  other  than  the  blessed  tidings, 
that  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God,  clad  in  our 
flesh,  hath  made  satisfaction  for  us  to  the  justice 
of  his  eternal  Father.  He  who  believes  this 
enters  into  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  he  enjoys  the 
universal  pardon  ;  from  a  carnal  he  becomes  a 
spiritual  creature  ;  from  a  child  of  wrath  a  child 
of  grace ;  he  lives  in  a  sweet  peace  of  con 
science." 

In  voluptuous  Naples,  then  under  Spanish 
rule,  the  same  great  truth  was  taught  by  Valdez, 
a  Spaniard,  secretary  to  the  viceroy  ;  but  unfor 
tunately  his  writings  are  lost.  In  1540  a  book  was 
published  entitled  "  Of  the  Benefits  of  Christ's 
Death,"  breathing  the  soul  of  evangelical  reli 
gion,  which,  as  a  decree  of  the  Inquisition  ex 
pressed  it,  "  treated  in  an  insinuating  manner  of 
justification,  deprecated  works  and  meritorious 
acts,  ascribed  all  merit  to  faith  alone :  as  this  was 
the  very  point  which  was  at  that  time  a  stum 
bling  block  to  many  prelates  and  monks,  it  ob 
tained  extraordinary  circulation."  This  book 
was  written,  as  the  decree  of  the  Inquisition  ex 
presses  it,  by  a  monk  of  San  Severino,  a  pupil 
of  Valdez.*  It  spread  every  where,  especially  in 

*  It  has  been  ascribed  to  Aonio  Paleario,  another  celebrated  Ital 
ian  Protestant. 


424  CHRIST    IN    UISTORT. 

Italy,  and  produced  an  immense  sensation.  Re 
vised  by  Flaminio,  it  prepared  the  hearts  of 
many  for  the  Reformation.  Valdez,  however, 
founded  no  sect.  His  book  was  the  fruit  of 
liberal  study  and  Christian  piety.  He  enjoyed 
the  quiet  retreats  of  nature  in  the  vicinity  of 
Naples,  in  profitable  conversation  with  his 
friends.  "  A  portion  of  his  soul  sufficed,"  says 
one  who  knew  him,  "  to  animate  his  frail,  attenu 
ated  body  ;  the  larger  part  of  his  clear,  untroubled 
intellect  was  ever  raised  aloft  in  the  contempla 
tion  of  truth."  One  of  his  friends  was  Vittoria 
Colonna,  already  mentioned,  who,  after  the 
death  of  her  husband,  occupied  a  beautiful  re 
treat  on  one  of  the  islands  in  the  vicinity  of 
Naples,  and  spent  much  of  her  time  in  literary 
and  pious  conversation  with  such  persons  as 
Valdez.  The  Duke  of  Palliano,  and  his  wife 
Giulia  Gonzago,  reputed  to  be  the  most  beauti 
ful  woman  in  Italy,  adopted  the  same  senti 
ments,  and  took  part  in  these  conversations. 

Indeed,  many  bishops  and  distinguished  lay 
men  favored  the  doctrines  which  subsequently 
entered  the  Reformation,  and  formed  its  animat 
ing  spirit.  Those,  indeed,  who  became  open 
Protestants  in  Italy  \vere  cruelly  persecuted  by 
the  Papal  hierarchy.  The  prisons  of  Ferrara, 
of  Venice,  and  of  Rome  heard  the  groans  of  the 
martyrs.  Some,  as  the  noble  Carncssechi,  were 


THE   MIDDLE   AGES.  425 

v 

beheaded  or  burned  at  the  stake.  Calabria  was 
deluged  with  Protestant  blood.  But  the  infer 
ence  is  a  legitimate  one,  that  multitudes,  in  pre 
ceding  ages,  must  have  loved  the  Savior,  who 
had  neither  the  strength  nor  the  opportunity, 
perhaps  not  even  the  desire,  to  leave  the  Papal 
church.*  The  churches  of  the  Waldenses  have 
lived  through  a  period  of  at  least  eight  hundred 
years.  They  date  beyond  the  days  of  Peter 
"Waldo,  and  derive  their  name  rather  from  their 
mountain  home,  than  from  any  human  teacher. 
Stigmatized  and  persecuted  by  the  dominant 
church,  like  the  Paulicians  of  the  East,  or  the 
Albigenses  of  the  West,  they  clung  to  the  word 
of  God  amid  all  changes  and  trials.  Number 
ing  even  now  thirty  thousand,  they  have  en 
dured  the  most  appalling  persecutions.  They 
have  passed  through  thirty  wars,  twelve  of 
which  were  intended  to  be  wars  of  extermina 
tion.! 

The  Catholic  church  in  Germany,  corrupt  as  it 
was  in  the  days  of  Tetsel,  preserved  some  spirit 

*  For  details  respecting  Protestantism  in  Italy,  see  McCries'  An 
nals  of  the  Reformation  in  Italy.  See  also  Ranke's  History  of  the 
Popes,  i.  pp.  96,  101,  and  Baird's  Protestantism  in  Italy. 

f  For  information  on  the  Waldenses,  see  Dr.  Baird's  Protestant 
ism  in  Italy,  Allix's  Churches  of  Piedmont,  Leger's  Histoire  des 
Eglises  Evangeliques,  the  Ancient  Valenses  and  Albigenses,  by  G. 
S.  Faber,  Morland's  Hist,  of  the  Evangelical  Churches,  &c.,  Hen 
derson's  "  Vaudois,"  and  Gilly's  Waldensian  Researches. 

36* 


426  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

* 

of  freedom  and  of  piety.  Staupitz,  the  friend 
and  spiritual  teacher  of  Luther,  never  left  the 
order  of  the  Augustinians.  It  was  from  him, 
as  well  as  from  the  Bible,  which  Luther  first  saw 
chained  in  the  convent  at  Erfurth,  that  he  re 
ceived  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  He 
carefully  studied  the  writings  of  Augustine,  as 
well  as  those  of  Occam  and  Gerson.  It  was  an 
old  monk  who  enlightened  him  respecting  the 
doctrine  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  by  God's 
blessing  brought  it  home  to  his  heart,  in  a  season 
of  deep  depression.*  On  another  occasion  we 
find  him  referring  with  affectionate  respect  to 
one  of  his  old  friends,  John  Braum,  "  holy  and 
venerable  priest  of  Christ  and  of  Mary."  Ursula, 
the  wife  of  Conrad  Cotta,  both  good  Catholics, 
and  others  of  his  old  acquaintances,  were  truly 
pious.  Speaking  of  the  former,  he  says,  "  There 
is  nothing  sweeter  than  the  heart  of  a  pious 
woman."  Undoubtedly  many  such  women  might 
have  been  found  in  the  old  German  church,  even 
in  the  times  of  ignorance  and  superstition. 
Claudius  of  Turin,  Peter  de  Bruys,  Gabriel 
Biel,  John  de  Wickliff,  John  Huss,  Jerome  of 
Prague,  John  Knox,  and  Thomas  Cranmer,  all 
received  their  training  in  the  dominant  church.f 

*  D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Reformation,  vol.  i.  p.  154.    ' 
f  No  thanks,  however,  to  the  Papal  hierarchy,  the  whole  endeav 
or  of  which  has  been  to  crush  and  extinguish  such  men.    Could  the 


THE    MIDDLE    AGES.  427 

In  a  word,  there  is  abundant  evidence  to  show 
that  Christ  was  in  the  church  of  the  middle 
ages,  as  a  regenerative  power,  and  that  from 
this  source  sprang  the  Reformation  of  the  six 
teenth  century. 

Catholic,  and  even  the  Roman,  or  Italian  church,  only  throw  off 
this  Papal  incubus,  and  return  to  primitive  simplicity,  it  might  yet 
bless  the  world. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

CHRIST  IN  THE  REFORMATION. 

THAT  a  system,  divine  in  its  origin,  and  super 
natural  in  its  resources,  should,  in  consequence 
of  its  embodiment  among  men,  be  corrupted  and 
abused,  is  not  only  quite  conceivable,  but  alto 
gether  probable.  It  cannot,  however,  in  its 
essence,  either  be  tarnished  or  extinguished.  It 
lives,  it  struggles  to  be  free,  it  eventually  casts 
off  the  tyranny  and  superstition  of  ages.  Thus 
one  thing,  and  one  alone,  produced  the  Reforma 
tion  of  the  sixteenth  century,  though  many  things 
concurred  to  aid  its  development.  It  was  a  natu 
ral,  it  was  also  a  supernatural  movement;  for 
the  Spirit  of  God,  transforming  the  hearts  of  good 
men,  and  controlling  the  actions  of  bad  ones,  is 
visible  through  the  whole.  As  usual,  however, 
in  mighty  revolutions,  which  change  the  current 
of  human  affairs,  and  affect  the  welfare  of 
states  and  empires,  all  things  were  prepared  be 
forehand.  In  this  respect,  as  of  old,  it  was  "  the 
fulness  of  time."  Thence  it  was  not  an  insu 
lated  event,  but  rather  the  result  of  many  previ 
ous  events,  and  many  invisible  forces,  working 

(428) 


THE    REFORMATION.  i29 

long  and  silently  under  the  surface  of  things. 
It  has  been  said  that  the  germ  of  the  reformation 
lay  in  the  heart  of  Wickliff  and  Waldo.  So 
also  it  lay  in  the  heart  of  Augustine,  of  St.  Paul, 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Luther  was  its  principal  agent 
in  Germany :  but  it  was  not,  as  some  have 
designated  it,  Luther's  Reformation.  Nor  was 
Lutheranism  its  proper  result.  That  was  a 
mere  incident  in  its  history.  Its  result  is  even 
now  revealed  only  in  part.  By  and  by  the  ages 
will  discover  it.  A  free  Bible  —  a  free  church  — 
a  free  Christianity  —  love,  purity,  joy,  activity, 
hope  in  God  and  for  God,  in  the  world  and  for 
the  world  —  that  is  its  result.  Its  latent  or  ulti 
mate  cause  is  the  presence  of  Christ  among 
men.  The  more  obvious  and  immediate  causes, 
or  what  we  call  such,  were  various  movements 
and  changes  in  the  hearts  of  individuals,  and  in 
the  state  of  society  which  preceded  the  sixteenth 
century.  It  is  interesting,  however,  to  see  the 
streams  of  history  converge,  to  see  the  waters, 
from  various  quarters,  commingle  and  flow  in  one 
resistless  tide. 

The  civilized  world  began  to  awake  from  the 
slumber  of  ages.  The  authority  of  the  school 
men  was  doubted  or  rejected.  The  superstitions 
of  the  twelfth  century  were  losing  their  hold  of 
reflective  minds.  Learning  and  science  revived 
together.  A  spirit  of  inquiry,  blind,  impulsive, 


4:30  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

irregular,  but  hopeful,  diffused  itself  over  Europe. 
Kings  and  emperors  were  becoming  impatient 
of  the  Papal  sway.'  They  were  casting  off,. or 
curtailing,  one  by  one,  its  despotic  interference 
with  their  governments.  They  did  not  abandon 
the  church,  but  they  were  quite  willing  to  aban 
don  the  pope,  whenever,  at  least,  it  suited  their 
ambitious  views.  The  popes  themselves  seemed 
struck  with  fatal  blindness  and  imbecility.  Even 
Pope  Leo  X.,  "the  Magnificent,"  as  he  has 
been  termed,  failed  utterly  to  check  the  Reforma 
tion,  or  give  security  to  the  Papacy.  He  was  at 
the  height  of  human  prosperity.  His  troops  had 
entered  Milan,  and  victory  had  perched  upon  his 
standard.  He  was  filled  with  exultation  ;  but  in 
that  moment  he  died.  "  Pray  for  me,"  said  he 
to  his  attendants  ;  "  I  still  make  you  all  happy." 
He  loved  life,  he  loved  the  world,  but  his  hour 
was  come.  He  had  not  time  to  secure  the  viati 
cum  or  extreme  unction.  "  So  suddenly,  so  early, 
so  full  of  high  hope,  he  died  as  the  poppy  fadeth." 
The  historian  adds,  "  The  Roman  people  could 
not  forgive  him  for  dying  without  the  sacrament, 
for  spending  so  much  money,  and  for  leaving 
debts.  They  accompanied  his  body  to  the  grave, 
with  words  of  reproach  and  indignity.  "  You 
glided  in  like  a  fox,"  said  they,  "  you've  ruled 
like  a  lion,  you  have  died  like  a  dog."  * 

*  Ranke's  History  of  the  Popes,  p.  70. 


THE    REFORMATION.  431 

Leo,  indeed,  had  some  generous  qualities ; 
his,  too,  was  a  great  epoch  in  the  advancement 
of  the  race,  to  which,  perhaps,  he  contributed 
something,  though  vastly  less  than  is  generally 
supposed.  For,  as  Carlyle  justly  suggests,  he 
was  but  a  splendid  pagan.  Passionately  fond 
of  music,  sculpture,  and  painting,  he  encouraged 
these  beautiful  and  humanizing  arts.  Ariosto, 
neglected  by  him  in  old  age,  was  one  of  the 
companions  of  his  youth.  Machiavelli  wrote 
several  of  his  productions  at  his  suggestion. 
Bembo  revolved  around  him  as  one  of  the  bright 
est  literary  stars  of  his  court;  Raphael  filled  his 
chambers,  halls,  and  galleries  with  immortal 
beauty ;  and  Michael  Angelo,  to  whom  he  was 
frequently  unjust,  erected  for  him  the  dome  of 
St.  Peter's.  His  admirers  speak  of  him  as 
learned  and  bountiful,  and  some  of  them  (devo 
tees  of  the  Papal  court)  go  so  far  as  to  call  him 
amiable  and  religious !  But  Leo  was  a  lover  of 
pleasure  more  than  a  lover  of  God.  He  in 
dulged  in  feasting  and  sports,  in  luxury  and  sen 
sual  delights.  "  He  spent  the  autumn  in  rural 
pleasures  ;  he  took  the  diversion  of  hawking  at 
Viterbo,  of  stag  hunting  at  Corneto,  and  of  fish 
ing  on  the  Lake  of  Bolsena,  after  which  he  passed 
some  time  at  his  favorite  seat  at  Malliano,  where 
he  was  accompanied  by  men  of  those  light  arid 
supple  talents  which  enliven  every  passing  hour. 


432  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

In  the  winter  he  returned  to  the  city,  which  was 
in  the  highest  state  of  [material]  prosperity.* 
Never  was  the  court  more  lively,  more  agreeable, 
more  intellectual ;  no  expenditure  was  too  great 
to  be  lavished  on  religious  and  secular  festivals, 
or  amusements  and  theatres,  on  presents  and 
marks  of  favor.  It  was  heard  with  pleasure  that 
Giuliano  Medici,  with  his  young  wife,  thought 
of  making  Rome  his  residence.  "  Praised  be 
God,"  Cardinal  Bibbiena  writes  to  him,  "  the 
only  thing  we  want  is  a  court  with  ladies !  "  The 
historian  might  have  added,  that  several  of  the 
cardinals  had  sons  and  nephews  to  provide  for  ; 
and  the  character  of  Leo  himself  was  riot  free 
from  the  taint  of  impurity.f 

*  Ranke. 

•f-  We  append  the  testimony  of  Prescott,  the  historian,  and  Mari- 
otti,  a  distinguished  Italian  writer,  with  reference  to  the  character 
of  Leo.  After  showing  the  impropriety  of  calling  him  the  Maece 
nas  of  literature,  and  proving  that  he  had  less  to  do  with  the  ad 
vancement  of  the  arts  than  is  generally  supposed,  Prescott  adds, 
"Ariosto,  his  ancient  friend,  he  coldly  neglected,  while  he  pensioned 
the  infamous  Aretin.  He  surrounded  his  table  with  buffoon  literati, 
and  parasitical  poets,  who  amused  him  with  feats  of  improvisation, 
gluttony,  and  intemperance,  some  of  whom,  after  expending  on 
them  his  convivial  wit,  he  turned  over  to  public  derision,  and  most 
of  whom,  debauched  in  morals  and  constitution,  were  abandoned, 
under  his  austere  successor,  to  infamy  and  death.  He  magnificent 
ly  recompensed  his  musical  retainers,  making  one  an  archbishop, 
another  an  archdeacon ;  but  what  did  he  do  for  his  countryman, 
Machiavelli,  the  philosopher  of  his  age  ?  He  hunted,  and  hawked, 
and  caroused  ;  every  thing  was  a  jest,  and  while  the  nations  of  Eu 
rope  stood  aghast  at  the  growing  heresy  of  Luther,  the  merry  pon- 


THK    REFORMATION.  433 

The  schools  of  philosophy,  fostered  by  the  pre 
dominant  taste,  were  infidel  in  their  tendency. 
The  most  distinguished  philosopher  of  that  day, 
Pietro  Pomponazzo,  denied  the  immortality  of 
the  soul.  Erasmus  expresses  his  astonishment  at 
the  blasphemies  he  heard  in  Rome.  An  attempt 
was  made  to  prove  to  him,  a  foreigner,  from  the 
works  of  Pliny,  that  there  was  no  real  difference 
between  the  souls  of  men  and  of  beasts.  The 
lower  orders  were  degraded  and  superstitious,  the 
higher  sceptical  and.  Epicurean.  A  few  longed 
for  better  things ;  but  even  Bembo,  the  elegant, 
the  half  religious  poet  and  cardinal,  never  forsook 
the  beautiful  Morosina ;  and  yet  so  nice  was  he 
in  his  notions,  that  he  was  wont  to  speak  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  "  the  sacred  or  divine  zephyr  " ! 
How  amazed  was  the  youthful  Luther,  when  he 
visited  the  Eternal  City,  (in  the  time  of  Pope 
Julius,)  to  witness  the  impieties  of  the  people  and 
clergy !  He  informs  us  that,  at  the  very  moment 

tiff  and  his  ministers  found  strange  matter  of  mirth  in  witnessing 
the  representation  of  comedies  that  exposed  the  impudent  mumme 
ries  of  priestcraft."  —  Miscellanies,  p.  522. 

"  The  memory  of  Leo,"  says  Mariotti,  "  as  an  Italian  prince,  is 
disgraced  by  a  system  of  irresolute,  improvident,  unprincipled  poli 
cy  ;  as  a  Itoman  pontiff,  by  a  lavish,  venal,  simoniacal  abuse  of  his 
sacred  ministry ;  as  a  private  man,  by  a  free  indulgence  in  a  w.-inton 
and  sometimes  even  vulgar  epicurism.  .  .  .  The  epoch  of  the 
greatest  triumph  of  letters  .  .  .  the  age  of  Leo  and  Clement 
was  also  that  of  the  utmost  depravation  of  morals."  —  Ita;y,  &c., 
vol.  i.  p.  3o2. 

37 


434  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

the  offering  of  the  mass  was  finished,  they  uttered 
words  of  levity  and  blasphemy  which  denied  its 
efficacy.  Machiavelli,  in  his  Dissertation  on  the 
First  Decade  of  Livy,  says,  "that  the  greatest 
symptom  of  the  approaching  destruction  of 
Christianity  (the  Papal  religion)  is,  that  the 
nearer  we  approach  the  capital  of  Christendom, 
the  less  we  find  of  the  Christian  spirit  in  the 
people."  ..."  The  Italians,"  he  adds,  "  are 
principally  indebted  to  the  church  for  having  be 
come  impious  and  profligate."  It  was  the  tone 
of  good  society  at  Rome  to  question  the  evidences 
of  Christianity.  "  No  one  passed,"  says  P.  Ant. 
Bandino,  "  for  an  accomplished  man,  who  did  not 
entertain  heretical  opinions  about  Christianity; 
at  the  court  the  ordinances  of  the  Catholic  church, 
and  passages  of  holy  writ,  were  spoken  of  only 
in  a  jesting  manner ;  the  mysteries  of  the  faith 
were  despised." 

The  atrocities  of  Pope  Alexander  VI.  and  of 
his  son  Csesar  Borgia  are  well  known,  and  need 
not  be  detailed  here. 

Indeed,  Rome  was  beginning  to  be  recognized 
by  multitudes  throughout  Christendom  as  the 
Babylon  of  the  Apocalypse.  It  was  worse  than 
in  the  days  of  Petrarch,  who  describes  it  as  "  im 
pious  Babylon,"  "  avaricious  Babylon,"  "  the 
school  of  error,"  "  the  temple  of  heresy,"  "  the 
foul  nest  of  treason,"  "the  forge  of  fraud,"  "  the 


TIIE    REFORMATION.  435 

hell  of  the  living."  *  Whatever  it  might  have 
been  in- the  early  centuries,  and  whatever  benefits 
it  might  have  conferred  on  society,  it  was  now 
"the  visible  Antichrist,"  sitting  in  the  temple  of 
God,  and  calling  itself  divine,  yet  "  drunk  with 
the  blood  of  saints,"  and  tyrannizing  over  the 
bodies  and  the  souls  of  men.  This,  therefore, 
prepared  the  way  for  the  great  change  that  ensued. 
Thousands,  in  England,  Scotland,  Germany,  and 
France,  were  longing  for  the  rise  of  a  better  faith 
and  a  purer  morality. 

Yet  with  all  its  vice,  the  pretensions  of  Rome 
to  supreme  authority  and  infallibility  were  never 
more  lofty  and  clamorous.  Poor  Germany,  hon 
est  at  heart,  but  superstitious,  was  priest-ridden, 
and  fleeced  to  supply  not  only  the  extravagance 
of  her  own  clergy,  but  the  rapacity  of  Rome. 
Peter-pence  and  indulgence  brought  immense 
sums  into  the  Papal  treasury;  and  if  any  sincere 
soul,  hungering  for  the  bread  of  life,  or  disgusted 
with  the  vices  of  the  clergy,  dared  to  utter  a  voice 
of  protest,  he  was  branded  as  a  heretic,  and 
dragged  to  imprisonment  or  execution.  The 
ignorance,  superstition,  and  bigotry  of  the  monks, 
Dominican  and  Franciscan,  were  open  to  the  day, 
and  excited  the  disgust  of  all  pure  and  thought 
ful  men.  Reuchlin  and  Erasmus,  after  WicklifY 
and  Huss,  poured  upon  them  unmeasured  scorn. 

*  Pctrarchi  Opera,  torn.  iii.  p.  149. 


436  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Most  decisive  upon  some  of  these  points  is  the 
testimony  of  Duke  George  of  Saxony^  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Papal  church,  and  one  of  Luther's 
most  determined  enemies,  as  given  at  the  Diet  of 
Worms.  Opposed  to  the  Reformers,  yet  favorable 
to  the  removal  of  abuses  within  the  Church  itself, 
he  made  the  following  reply  to  the  Papal  nuncio, 
who  wished  Luther  and  the  Reformation  to  be 
involved  in  the  same  sentence  of  condemnation. 
"  The  Diet,"  said  he,  "must  not  lose  sight  of  the 
grievances  of  which  it  has  to  claim  redress  from 
the  court  of  Rome.  How  numerous  are  the 
abuses  that  have  crept  into  our  dominions.  The 
annats,  which  the  emperor  granted  of  his  free  will 
for  the  good  of  religion,  now  exacted  as  a  due  ;  the 
Roman  courtiers  daily  inventing  new  regulations 
to  favor  the  monopoly,  the  sale,  the  leasing  out  of 
ecclesiastical  benefices ;  a  multitude  of  offences 
connived  at ;  a  scandalous  toleration  granted  to 
rich  offenders,  while  those  who  have  not  where 
withal  to  pay  to  purchase  impunity  are  severely 
punished  ;  the  pope's  continually  bestowing  re 
versions  and  rent  charges  on  the  officers  of  their 
palace,  to  the  prejudice  of  those  to  whom  the 
benefices  rightly  belong;  the  abbeys  and  convents 
of  Rome,  given  in  commendam  to  cardinals,  bish 
ops,  and  prelates,  who  apply  the  revenues  to  their 
own  use,  so  that  in  many  convents,  where  there 
ought  to  be  twenty  or  thirty  monks,  there  is  not 


THE   REFORMATION.  437 

one  to  be  found ;  stations  multiplied  to  excess ; 
shops  for  indulgences  opened  in  every  street  and 
square  of  our  cities  ;  shops  of  St.  Anthony,  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  of  St.  Hubert,  of  St.  Vincent,  and  I 
know  not  how  many  more  ;  societies  contracting 
to  Rome  for  the  privilege  of  setting  up  this  trade, 
then  purchasing  from  their  bishop  the  right  of 
exposing  their  merchandise  to  sale ;  and  finally, 
to  meet  all  this  outlay  of  money,  squeezing  and 
draining  the  last  coin  out  of  the  poor  man's 
purse ;  indulgences,  which  ought  to  be  granted 
only  with  a  view  to  the  salvation  of  souls,  and 
procured  only  by  prayer,  and  fasting,  and  works 
of  charity,  sold  for  a  price  ;  the  officials  of  the 
bishops  oppressing  men  of  low  degree  with 
penances  for  blasphemy,  or  adultery,  or  drunken 
ness,  or  profanation  of  this  and  that  festival,  but 
never  addressing  so  much  as  a  rebuke  to  ecclesi 
astics  who  are  guilty  of  the  same  crimes ;  pen 
ances  so  devised  as  to  betray  the  penitent  into 
the  repetition  of  his  offence,  in  order  that  more 
money  may  be  extracted  from  him,  —  these  are 
but  a  few  of  the  abuses  which  cry  out  on  Koine 
for  redress.  All  shame  is  laid  aside,  and  one 
object  alone  incessantly  pursued  —  money !  ever 
more  money !  So  that  the  very  men  whose  duty 
is  to  disseminate  the  truth,  are  engaged  in  noth- 

'  O      O 

ing  but  the   propagation  of  falsehood ;  and  yet 
they    are    not   merely    tolerated,  but  rewarded ; 
37* 


CHRIST   IN   IIISTORT. 

because  the  more  they  lie,  the  larger  are  their 
gains.  This  is  the  foul  source  from  which  so 
many  corrupted  streams  flow  out  on  every  side. 
Profligacy  and  avarice  go  hand  in  hand.  The 
officials  summon  women  to  their  houses  on  vari 
ous  pretences,  and  endeavor,  either  by  threats  or 
by  presents,  to  seduce  them,  and  if  the  attempt 
fails,  they  ruin  their  reputation.  O,  it  is  the 
scandal  occasioned  by  the  clergy  that  plunges  so 
many  poor  souls  into  everlasting  perdition.  A 
thorough  reform  must  be  effected.  To  accom 
plish  that  reform,  a  general  council  must  be  as 
sembled.  Therefore,  most  excellent  princes  and 
lords,  I  respectfully  beseech  you  to  give  this 
matter  your  attention."  * 

The  word  of  God  had  been  sought  out  of  dirty 
corners,  and  studied  in  the  original  tongue.  It 
was  translated  also  to  some  extent,  and  made  its 
way  into  some  homes  and  hearts.  Copies  here 
and  there,  in  Latin  or  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  thinkers,  and  opened  their 
eyes  to  the  beauty  of  primitive  Christianity,  in 
contrast  with  the  errors  of  Rome.  In  Germany, 
the  writings  of  St.  Augustine,  Gerson,  Thomas 
a  Kempis,  and  others  were  read  and  studied  by 
pious  monks  ;  for  happily  amid  the  prevalent 
corruption  there  were  some  sincere  souls.  When 
these  failed  to  convert  them,  they  yet  discovered 

*  Preserved  in  the  archives  of  Weimar. 


THE    REFORMATION.  439 

the  mournful  condition  of  Christendom,  and  pre 
pared  the  way  for  a  better  order  of  things. 

Some  attempts,  too,  had  been  made,  but  with 
out  success,  within  the  bosom  of  the  church 
itself,  to  reform  its  abuses.  This  was  the  pro 
fessed  object  of  the  Council  of  Constance. 
Princes  and  electors,  dukes  and  ambassadors  from 
all  nations,  with  learned  church  dignitaries,  doc 
tors  of  theology,  and  representatives  from  the 
universities,  gave  dignity  and  importance  to  the 
occasion.  But  alas  !  instead  of  reforming  the 
church,  they  gave  Huss  to  the  flames.  A  com 
mission,  however,  was  appointed,  of  deputies 
from  different  nations,  to  propose  a  fundamental 
reform.  The  Emperor  Sigismund,  who  violated 
his  safe  conduct  to  Huss,  supported  the  proposi 
tion  with  all  the  weight  of  his  influence.  The 
council  concurred  unanimously.  The  cardinals 
bound  themselves  by  a  solemn  oath,  that  he 
among  them  who  should  be  elected  pope,  —  for 
this  duty,  among  others,  had  to  be  performed  by 
the  council,  which,  in  furtherance  of  its  objects, 
had  deposed  three  popes,  —  would  not  dissolve 
the  assembly,  or  leave  Constance,  without  accom 
plishing  the  desired  reformation.  The  election 
fell  upon  Colonna,  under  the  name  of  Martin  V. 
With  intense  interest  the  members  of  the  assem 
bly  awaited  the  result.  "  The  council  is  at  an 
end!"  cried  Martin  V.,  with  startling  Papal 


440  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

consistency,  the  moment  he  had  placed  the  tiara 
on  his  head.  A  cry  of  grief  and  indignation 
arose  from  Sigismund  and  the  clergy ;  but  it 
was  no  more  heeded  than  the  idle  wind  which 
fanned  the  flames  of  John  Huss.  "  On  the  16th 
of  May,  1418,"  says  the  historian,  "the  pope, 
arrayed  in  the  pontifical  robes,  mounted  a  mule 
richly  caparisoned  ;  the  emperor  was  on  his  right 
hand,  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  on  his  left, 
each  holding  the  reins  of  his  palfrey  ;  four  counts 
supported  over  the  pope's  head  a  magnificent 
canopy  ;  several  princes  surrounded  him,  bearing 
the  trappings ;  and  a  mounted  train  of  forty 
thousand  persons,  composed  of  nobles,  knights, 
and  clergy  of  all  ranks,  joined  in  solemn  proces 
sion  outside  the  walls  of  Constance."  Thus  did 
Rome  laugh  at  reform,  and  fasten  the  fetters  of 
her  tyrannous  dominion. 

"  There  are  three  things,"  says  Vadiscus,  a  trav 
eller  introduced  into  the  tract  which  Ulrich  Von 
Hiitten  published,  after  his  return  from  Rome, 
"which  we  commonly  bring  away  with  us  from 
Rome  :  —  a  bad  conscience,  a  vitiated  stomach, 
and  an  empty  purse.  There  are  three  things  which 
Rome  does  not  believe  in  :  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  hell.  There 
are  three  things  which  Rome  trades  in  :  the  grace 
of  Christ,  the  dignity  of  the  church,  and  women." 

These  grievous   moral   and    political   wrongs 


THE    REFORMATION.  441 

stirred  the  hearts  even  of  worldly  men,  and 
awakened  sometimes,  in  the  breasts  of  kings  and 
rulers,  educated  under  Papal  influence,  a  longing 
for  redress  and  reform.  "  I  will  destroy  the  name 
of  Babylon,"  (Per  dam  nomen  Babylonis,)  were 
the  words  stamped  upon  a  medal  issued  by  the 
impetuous  Louis  XII.  Maximilian  of  Austria, 
grieved  at  the  treachery  of  Leo  X.,  exclaimed, 
"  This  pope,  like  the  rest,  is,  in  my  judgment,  a 
scoundrel.  Henceforth,  I  can  say,  that,  in  all  my 
life,  no  pope  has  kept  his  faith  or  word  with  me. 
I  hope,  if  God  be  willing,  that  this  one  will  be 
the  last  of  them."  Similar  sentiments  were  oc 
casionally  expressed  by  poets  and  historians, 
among  others  by  Machiavelli,  who  charges  upon 
them  all  the  political  difficulties  of  Italy,  the 
wars  of  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  and  the 
destruction  of  Italian  liberty  and  nationality.* 
This  acted,  of  course,  to  some  extent,  upon  the 
people,  many  of  whom  were  weary  of  the  Papal 
sway. 

But  not  all  these  causes  combined  could  pro 
duce  the  Reformation.     That  was  effected  by  the 

*  In  the  first  book  of  his  History  of  Florence,  after  stating  how 
these  difficulties  had  lasted  from  the  days  of  Theodosius,  he  adds, 
"  So  that  all  the  wars  which  foreigners  aftenvards  made  upon  Italy 
were  chiefly  owing  to  the  popes ;  and  most  of  the  several  inunda 
tions  of  barbarians  that  poured  themselves  into  it,  were,  in  a  great 
measure,  occasioned  by  their  incitement  and  instigation ;  which 
practices,  being  continued  even  to  this  time,  have  so  long  kept,  and 
still  keep,  Italy  weak  and  divided." 


'112  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

reproduction,  among  those  who  read  and  believed 
the  word  of  God,  of  the  spirit  of  primitive 
Christianity.  Once  more  the  Son  of  God  took 
possession  of  selected  agents,  great,  generous, 
courageous  hearts,  "  born  from  above,"  who, 
fired  with  the  love  of  truth,  went  forth  to  oppose 
error,  and  proclaim  "  glad  tidings  of  great  joy  to 
all  people."  The  first  great  impulse  in  continen 
tal  Europe  issued  from  Wittemberg,  and  thence 
spread  itself  in  successive  waves  to  the  remotest 
parts  of  the  Christian  world. 

The  Reformation  was  not  a  speculation  or  a 
theory,  springing  from  some  profound  or  original 
intellect ;  neither  was  it  a  preconcerted  plan  of 
wise,  far-seeing  men  ;  above  all,  it  was  not  a  mere 
social  or  political  change.  Those  chiefly  con 
cerned  in  it,  at  first,  thought  nothing  of  the  stu 
pendous  result  to  which  they  were  irresistibly 
conducted.  Luther  himself  was  as  clay  in  the 
hand  of  the  potter.  Long  years  intervened,  after 
he  opposed  indulgences,  before  he  dreamed  of 
opposing  the  Papacy,  or  abandoning  the  Roman 
church.  It  was  the  love  of  Christ,  of  truth,  and 
of  the  souls  of  men,  which  impelled  him  to  the 
sublime  issue.  Over  and  over  again,  Luther  de 
clares,  that  not  "  of  choice,  but  of  necessity,"  — a 
necessity  which  he  could  not  resist  if  he  would, 
and  would  not  resist  if  he  could,  —  he  was 
carried  forward  in  his  perilous  career.  "  God," 


THE    REFORMATION.  443 

he  says,  on  one  occasion,  "  does  not  conduct,  but 
drives  me,  and  carries  me  forward.  I  am  not 
master  of  my  own  actions.  I  would  gladly  live 
in  peace,  but  I  am  cast  into  the  midst  of  tumult 
and  changes." 

Gladly  he  would  have  retired  from  the  comba% 
if  Rome  would  only  permit  him  and  other  "  poor 
sinners  "  to  live  in  peace  and  follow  Christ.  Nay, 
he  would  never  have  entered  into  it,  unless  com 
pelled  for  his  soul's  sake,  and  the  truth  of  God. 
To  oppose  the  church  of  his  fathers,  and,  above 
all,  to  leave  her,  was  agony  and  crucifixion,  only 
compensated  by  the  thought  that  God  was  with 
him,  and  that  the  gospel  would  stand  forever. 
"  I  began  this  affair,"  is  his  own  testimony, 
wrung  from  the  depths  of  his  heart,  "  with  great 
fear  and  trembling.  What  was  I  at  that  time  ^ 
a  poor,  wretched,  contemptible  friar,  more  like  a 
corpse  than  a  man  ?  Who  was  I,  to  oppose  the 
pope's  majesty,  before  which  not  only  the  kings 
of  the  earth,  and  the  whole  world,  trembled,  but 
also,  if  I  may  so  speak,  heaven  and  hell  were 
constrained  to  obey  the  slightest  intimation  of 
his  will  ?  No  one  can  know  what  I  suffered  those 
two  first  years,  and  in  what  dejection,  I  might  say 
despair,  I  was  often  plunged.  Those  proud  spirits, 
who  afterwards  attacked  the  pope  with  such  bold 
ness,  can  form  no  idea  of  my  sufferings ;  though, 
with  all  their  skill,  they  could  have  done  him  no 


444  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

injury,  if  Christ  had  not  inflicted  upon  him, 
through  me,  his  weak  and  unworthy  instrument, 
a  wound  from  which  he  will  never  recover.  But 
whilst  they  were  satisfied  to  look  on,  and  leave 
me  to  face  the  danger  alone,  I  was  not  so  happy? 
so  calm,  or  so  sure  of  success ;  for  I  did  not  then 
know  many  things,  which  now,  thanks  be  to 
God,  I  do  know.  There  were,  it  is  true,  many 
pious  Christians,  who  were  much  pleased  with 
my  propositions,  and  thought  highly  of  them. 
But  I  was  not  able  to  recognize  these,  or  look 
upon  them  as  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;  I 
only  looked  to  the  pope,  the  cardinal^,  the  bishops, 
the  theologians,  the  jurisconsults,  the  monks,  the 
priests.  It  was  from  thence  that  I  expected  the 
Spirit  to  breathe.  However,  after  having  tri- 
.umphed,  by  means  of  the  Scriptures,  over  all 
opposing  arguments,  I  at  last  overcame,  by  the 
grace  of  Christ,  with  much  anguish,  labor,  and 
great  difficulty,  the  only  argument  that  still 
stopped  me,  namely,  that  I  must  hear  the  church  ; 
for  from  my  heart  I  honored  the  church  of  the 
pope,  as  the  true  church,  and  I  did  so  with  more 
sincerity  and  veneration  than  those  disgraceful 
and  infamous  corrupters  of  the  church,  who,  to 
oppose  me,  now  so  much  extol  it.  If  I  had  de 
spised  the  pope,  as  those  persons  do  in  their 
hearts  who  praise  him  so  much  with  their  lips, 


THE   REFORMATION.  445 

I  should  have  feared  that  the  earth  would  open 
at  that  instant,  and  swallow  rne  up  alive." 

No,  it  was  Christianity  itself,  rising  from  the 
grave  of  superstition  in  which  it  was  intombed, 
taking  possession  of  the  hearts  of  Luther,  My- 
conius,  Melancthon,  and  others,  and  going  forth, 
as  of  old,  to  regenerate  the  world.  This  was 
the  real  secret,  the  true  power  of  the  Reforma 
tion.  No  other  religions  have  ever  reformed  or  re 
produced  themselves,  with  fresh  and  living  energy. 
Divested  of  their  original  power  by  formalism 
and  corruption,  they  have  ever  remained  so,  or 
passed  away.  Separate  from  Christianity,  Juda 
ism  has  no  power  of  reproduction  and  revival. 
Indeed,  all  other  religions,  even  in  their  best 
state,  are  local  or  national,  and  remain  station 
ary  or  die  out  altogether.  But  Christianity  re 
news  itself,  rises  above  the  corruption  with 
which  it  is  invested,  and  exhibits  the  same  vital, 
regenerative  power  as  in  the  days  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles. 

The  agents  by  which  this  was  accomplished, 
in  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  centu 
ry,  were  in  themselves  human  and  insignifi 
cant.  They  derived  their  success,  as  they  fre 
quently  and  frankly  testify,  from  an  unseen 
power,  controlling  events,  and  working  mightily 
in  them  and  others.  What  had  the  son  of  the 
poor  miner  of  Mansfeld,  born  at  Eisleben,  as 
38 

tri  J?IB> 


'. 


446  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Christ  was  born  at  Bethlehem,  to  do  with  ref 
ormations  and  revolutions  ?  Nay,  what  had  the 
poor  monk  of  Erfurt,  groaning  over  his  sins,  and 
despairing  of  the  grace  of  God,  to  do  with  such 
things  ?  What  even  had  the  humble  Wittem- 
berg  professor,  a  submissive  doctor  of  the  Papal 
church,  lecturing  on  Paul's  Epistles  to  the  Gala- 
tians,  to  do  with  them  ?  He  wanted  only  to  live, 
to  serve  God,  to  confide  in  Christ,  and  teach  any 
pious  souls,  who  might  desire  it,  the  way  of  life, 
and  this  in  connection  with  the  church  of  his 
fathers,  of  whose  infallibility  even  then,  he  had 
no  doubt.  In  vain  had  learning  and  genius,  in 
vain  had  diplomacy  and  theology  attempted 
to  reform  the  Papacy.  It  had  wealth,  talent, 
numbers,  organization,  influence,  all  at  its  com 
mand.  It  had  burned  John  Huss,  and  it  could 
easily  burn  Luther.  The  Emperor  Charles 
V.,  was  just  as  likely  to  yield  to  the  power 
of  Rome,  as  Sigismund  was  when  he  delivered 
up  the  Bohemian  reformer.  But  Christ  was 
in  the  movement,  as  a  spirit  of  wisdom  and 
power,  transcending  all  calculations,  overcoming 
all  obstacles,  and  bringing  thousands  of  willing 
hearts  to  the  foot  of  the  cross.  It  was  through 
Christ,  and  Christ  alone,  endowing  him  with  a 
matchless  energy  on  behalf  of  the  truth  and  the 
souls  of  men,  that  the  poor  feeble  monk  became 
the  reformer  of  Christendom, 


THE    REFORMATION.  447 

All  say,  even  the  Papists  say,  that  Luther  had 
power.  "  I  cannot  bear,"  said  one  of  his  oppo 
nents,  "those  deep-set  eyes."  "  He  is  possessed 
of  the  devil,"  said  others,  "  and  nothing  stands 
before  him."  What  was  that  power?  Was  it  sin 
cerity,  simplicity,  vigor  of  intellect,  learning,  cour 
age,  rough  eloquence,  resolution,  perseverance  ? 
These,  doubtless,  are  elements  of  power  and 
means  of  success,  within  certain  limits.  But  John 
Wickliff,  John  Huss,  Jerome  of  Prague,  Peter 
Waldo,  Arnold  of  Brescia,  all  had  these  ele 
ments  of  character ;  but  they  failed  as  reformers. 
Nay,  some  of  the  opponents  of  Luther,  though 
wrong,  utterly  wrong,  had  these  qualities,  in 
more  or  less  measure.  Luther,  however,  had  a 
power  beyond  them  all.  What  was  it  ?  We 
unhesitatingly  reply,  The  power  of  God,  through 
Jesus  Christ^  in  large  and  abundant  measure. 
God,  indeed,  uses  fit  vehicles.  He  puts  great 
grace  into  great  souls.  Thus  it  was  with  Lu 
ther.  Christ  was  in  him  as  a  fit  vehicle  of  his 
divine  might. 

Hence  Luther  had  no  special  theological  dog 
mas  or  quiddities  to  plead.  If  some  of  these 
were  embodied  in  the  creed  of  the  Reformation, 
they  were  never  used  by  Luther,  in  his  grand 
contest  with  the  Papacy,  or  in  preaching  the 
word  for  the  comfort  and  guidance  of  "  weary 
souls."  He  believed,  and  he  taught,  with  a 


448  CHRIST   IIT    HISTORY. 

depth  of  conviction,  and  a  force  of  eloquence, 
unequalled  since  the  days  of  Paul,  the  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  ;  for  this  was  the  doctrine 
of  grace,  the  doctrine  of  life,  the  only  hope  qf 
the  sinner,  the  only  hope  of  the  world.  No,  no ; 
he  who  had  rejected  the  doctrine  of  indulgences, 
and  consequently  of  all  commerce  and  barter  in 
religion,  could  not  introduce  it  into  Christ's  free 
gospel.  Not  by  purchase,  not  by  works,  but  by 
grace,  free  and  boundless  as  the  nature  of  the 
God  from  whom  it  springs,  can  the  sinner  be 
emancipated.  He  must  believe,  he  must  trust, 
he  must  love,  in  order  to  obey.  He  is  not  a 
slave ;  he  is  a  child,  an  erring  child  indeed,  but  a 
child  to  be  forgiven,  to  be  taken  to  the  bosom 
of  God,  and  thus  to  be  redeemed  and  disin- 
thralled  forever.  "  Justified  freely  by  his  grace, 
through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 
Faith  in  Christ,  after  terrible  struggles,  had 
emancipated  his  own  spirit,  and  filled  him  with 
the  life  of  God,  and  Luther  wanted  the  whole 
world  to  enjoy  the  mighty  blessing.  But  spe 
cial  dogmas  of  predestination,  election,  general 
and  particular  atonement,  &c.,  did  not  trouble 
him.  In  themselves,  too,  he  cared  little  for  ex 
ternal  forms  and  usages.  He  observed  them  a? 
decorous,  but  would  neither  abolish  nor  indorse 
them.  He  might  have  remained  a  Catholic  for 
all  this.  Some  one  wanted  a  cassock  to  preach 


THE   REFORMATION.  449 

in,  to  which  more  scrupulous  persons  objected. 
"  Let  him  have  three  cassocks,  if  he  wishes 
.them  !  "  cried  Luther.  Perhaps  he  was  not  suf 
ficiently  enlightened  about  some  things.  Indeed, 
he  left  many  evils  unreformed.  He  had  some 
false  ideas  and  superstitions  of  his  own.  He 
was  not  a  perfect  man.  But  he  loved  Christ. 
He  loved  the  truth.  He  loved  the  souls  of  men. 
In  a  word,  Christ  was  in  him,  as  a  great,  strong, 
loving,  self-sacrificing,  Christian  heart.  Hence 
he  was  willing  to  die  for  Christ,  to  suffer  for  the 
truth,  to  yield  his  life  for  the  church.  "  I  do  not 
refuse  to  die,"  said  he  over  and  over  again,  "  if 
it  be  God's  will."  "  Take  my  life,"  said  he  to 
the  pope,  "  but .  I  must  stand  by  the  truth." 
"What  is  about  to  happen,"  said  he  in  a  time 
of  danger,  "  I  know  not,  nor  do  I  care  to  know, 
assured  as  I  am  that  He  who  sits  on  the  throne 
of  heaven,  has  from  all  eternity  foreseen  the  be 
ginning,  the  progress,  and  the  end  of  this  affair. 
Let  the  blow  fall  where  it  may,  I  am  without 
fear.  Not  so  much  as  a  leaf  falls  without  the 
will  of  our  Father.  How  much  rather  will  he 
care  for  us  !  It  is  a  light  thing  to  die  for  the 
Word,  since  the  Word,  which  was  made  flesh, 
hath  himself  died.  If  we  die  with  him,  we  shall 
live  with  him  ;  and  passing  through  that  which 
he  hath  passed  through  before  us,  we  shall  be 
where  he  is,  and  dwell  with  him  forever." 
38* 


450  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

jt 

The  Reformation  had  transpired  in  Luther  him 
self,  before  it  transpired  in  Germany.  A  supersti 
tious  Catholic,  bending  beneath  the  burden  of  a 
false  and  degrading  faith,  fearing  "  Christ  himself 
as  a  tyrant,"  ignorant  of  God's  method  of  justifica 
tion,  macerating  his  body  by  penances,  and  his 
soul  by  sorrows,  he  was  led,  insensibly,  to  the 
word  of  God,  and  thence  to  the  cross  of  Christ. 
Gradually  he  discovered  the  "  riches  of  grace/' 
and  found  peace  in  believing.  Still  he  clung  to 
the  Papacy,  to  masses  and  pilgrimages,  purgatories 
and  penances.  From  all  these,  however,  he  was 
gradually  emancipated  by  the  word,  the  provi 
dence,  and  the  Spirit  of  God.  Then  he  exulted 
in  the  God  of  his  salvation,  and  not  all  the 
powers  of  pope  or  devil  could  move  him  from  his 
integrity.  He  became  a  Protestant ;  say  rather  a 
Christian,  simple,  sincere,  devout, -noble-hearted, 
and  self-sacrificing.  Then  "  to  live  was  Christ,  and 
to  die  gain."  "  Though  as  a  monk,"  says  he,  "  I 
was  holy  and  irreproachable,  my  conscience  was 
still  filled  with  trouble  and  torment. ,  I  could  not 
endure  the  expression — the  righteous  justice  of 
God.  I  did  not  love  that  just  and  holy  Being 
who  punishes  sinners.  I  felt  a  secret  anger  against 
him  ;  I  hated  him,  because,  not  satisfied  with 
terrifying  by  his  law,  and  by  the  miseries  of  life, 
poor  creatures  already  ruined  by  original  sin,  he 
aggravated  our  sufferings  by  the  gospel.  But 


THE    KEFORMATION.  451 

when  by  the  Spirit  of  God  I  understood  these 
words — when  I  learned  how  the  justification  of 
the  sinner  proceeds  from  God's  mere  mercy  by 
the  way  of  faith  —  then  I  felt  myself  born  again, 
as  a  new  man,  and  I  entered  by  an  open  door 
into  the  very  paradise  of  God.  From  that  hour 
I  saw  the  precious  and  Holy  Scriptures  with  new 
eyes.  I  went  through  the  whole  Bible.  I  col 
lected  a  multitude  of  passages  which  taught  me 
what  the  work  of  God  was.  And  as  I  had  before 
heartily  hated  that  expression,  '  the  righteousness 
of  God,'  I  began,  from  that  time,  to  value  and 
love  it,  as  the  sweetest  and  most  consolatory 
truth.  Truly  this  text  of  St.  Paul  was  to  me  as 
the  very  '  gate  of  heaven.'  " 

Hence  he  taught  this  great  truth,  in  all  his 
preaching  and  writings ;  and  because  he  was  for 
bidden  to  teach  it,  on  pain  of  Papal  condemna 
tion,  he  opposed  the  Papacy  by  teaching  and 
preaching  it  the  more.  This  was  his  great  weapon 
against  all  the  errors  and  corruptions  of  Rome. 
"  I  see,"  said  he,  at  a  critical  moment,  "  that  the 
devil,  by  means  of  his  teachers  and  doctors,  is  in 
cessantly  attacking  this  fundamental  article,  and 
that  he  cannot  rest  or  cease  from  this  object. 
Well  then,  I,  Doctor  Martin  Luther,  an  unworthy 
evangelist  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  do  confess 
this  article,  that  faith  alone,  without  works,  justi 
fies  in  the  sight  of  God;  and  I  declare,  that  in 


452  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

spite  of  the  Emperor  of  the  Turks,  the  Emperor 
of  the  Tartars,  the  Emperor  of  the  Persians,  the 
Pope,  all  the  cardinals,  bishops,  priests,  monks, 
nuns,  kings,  princes,  nobles,  all  the  world,  and  all 
the  devils,  it  shall  stand  unshaken  forever !  that 
if  they  will  persist  in  opposing  this  truth,  they 
will  draw  upon  their  heads  the  flames  of  hell. 
This  is  the  true  and  holy  gospel,  and  the  declara 
tion  of  me,  Doctor  Luther,  according  to  the  light 
given  to  me  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  .  .  .  There 
is  no  one  who  has  died  for  our  sins  but  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God.  I  repeat  it  once  more  : 
let  all  the  evil  spirits  of  earth  and  hell  foam  and 
rage  as  they  will,  this  is  nevertheless  true.  And 
if  Christ  alone  takes  away  sin,  we  cannot  do  so 
by  all  our  works.  But  good  works  follow  redemp 
tion,  as  surely  as  fruit  appears  upon  a  living 
tree.  This  is  our  doctrine;  this  the  Holy  Spirit 
teacheth,  together  with  all  holy  Christian  people. 
We  hold  it  in  God's  name.  Amen !  " 

And  thus  he  proclaimed  it  to  the  world,  pro 
claimed  it  to  his  dying  day  ;  and  the  reforma 
tion  in  Luther's  heart  reproduced  itself,  by  the 
power  of  Christ,  in  Germany,  Switzerland,  Hol 
land,  England,  and  Scotland.  The  word  of  God 
had  free  course  —  it  ran  and  was  glorified. 

Some,  unfriendly  to  the  Reformation,  have 
denied  the  presence  of  Christ  in  the  spirit  and 
work  of  Luther,  because  of  his  roughness  and 


THE    REFORMATION.  453 

violence.  Doubtless  he  was  an  imperfect,  nay, 
sinful  man,  and  he  himself  was  the  first  to  con 
fess  it ;  but  this  is  not  to  be  charged  to  Christ  or 
the  Reformation.  God  commits  the  treasure  of 
his  grace  to  earthen  vessels.  Our  adorable  Re 
deemer  condescends  to  dwell  in  sinful  hearts. 
Doubtless  Luther,  though  at  heart  a  gentle,  lov 
ing  man,  was  often  violent  and  impetuous ;  but 
such  also  is  the  lightning's  flash,  which  cleaves 
the  atmosphere,  and  goes  crashing  through  the 
resounding  heavens.  A  Luther,  or  a  John  Bap 
tist,  or  a  John  Knox,  is  no  puling  sentimentalist. 
At  times  the  word  of  God  is  as  fire  shut  up  in 
his  bones.  He  is  indignant  at  oppression  and 
wrong.  He  longs  to  strike  the  hoary  lust  from 
its  throne.  His  words,  rough,  vehement,  jagged, 
tumultuous,  are  "  half  battles."  They  go  burn 
ing  and  crashing  amid  the  idols  of  superstition. 
He  must  be  honest,  he  must  be  true,  and  some 
times  he  must  be  vehement,  fearfully  vehement. 
And  as  he  is  only  a  man,  sometimes  he  may  be 
imprudent,  and  both  say  and  do  things  which 
subsequently  he  regrets.  But  in  the  main  he  is 
honest,  terribly,  gloriously  honest.  Let  him  then 
speak  out,  let  him  lay  stunning  blows  on  the 
head  of  despotic  error  and  fiendish  lust,  Let 
him  trample  in  the  dust  the  mean  arguments  and 
meaner  wiles  of  his  opponents.  Are  they  not 
the  enemies  of  God  and  man ;  and  has  not  the 


454  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Almighty  made  him  the  battle  axe  to  grind  them 
to  powder  ?  Men  stood  aghast  when  Luther 
burned  the  pope's  bull ;  but  to  us  it  is  a  magnifi 
cent  sight.  With  what  generous  and  beautiful 
disdain  he  tears  it  to  atoms,  and  commits  it  to  the 
flames  as  a  weak  and  worthless  thing,  which  it 
behoves  all  honest  men  to  despise  !  "  Too  much 
imprudence  displeases  men"  replies  Luther  to 
Spalatin,  who  had  counselled  him  to  sobriety, 
"  but  too  much  prudence  is  displeasing  to  God. 
It  is  impossible  to  make  a  stand  for  the  gospel 
without  creating  some  disturbance  and  offence. 
The  word  of  God  is  a  sword,  waging  war,  over 
throwing  and  destroying ;  it  is  a  casting  down, 
a  disturbance,  and  comes,  as  the  prophet  Amos 
says,  as  a  bear  in  the  way,  as  a  lion  in  the  forest. 
I  want  nothing  from  them.  I  ask  nothing.  There 
is  One  above  who  seeks  and  requires.  Whether 
his  requirements  be  disregarded  or  obeyed  affects 
not  me."  "  No,"  he  continues,  "  I  dare  not 
withdraw  from  the  contest.  I  commit  every  thing 
to  God,  and  give  up  my  bark  to  winds  and  waves. 
The  battle  is  the  Lord's.  Why  will  you  fancy 
that  it  is  by  peace  that  Christ  will  advance  his 
cause?  Has  not  he  himself,  have  not  all  the 
martyrs,  poured  forth  their  blood  in  the  conflict  ?  " 
Yet  Luther  clearly  distinguishes  between  what 
is  his  own  and  what  is  the  Lord's.  The  former 
he  was  ever  willing  to  yield,  the  latter  never. 


TIIK    REFORMATION.  455 

He  readily  acknowledges  his  faults ;  he  acknowl 
edges  this  very  imprudence  and  impetuosity.  In 
his  letter  to  Pope  Leo  X.,  and  in  his  address  be 
fore  the  Diet  of  Worms,  he  is  willing  to  retract 
all  this,  any  thing,  in  fact,  which  is  his  own  ;  only 
he  takes  his  stand  on  the  word  of  God,  and  con 
tends  for  the  truth.  Reform  the  church,  preach 
the  gospel,  or  let  the  gospel  be  preached,  and  he 
is  satisfied.  "  I  have  attacked,"  says  he,  address 
ing  the  pope,  "  it  is  true,  some  anti-Christian 
doctrines,  and  I  have  inflicted  some  deep  wounds 
on  my  adversaries  on  account  of  their  impiety. 
I  cannot  regret  this,  for  I  have  in  this  Christ  for 
an  example.  Of  what  use  is  salt,  if  it  hath  lost 
its  savor,  or  the  sword  blade,  if  it  doth  not  cut  ? 
Cursed  is  he  who  doth  the  Lord's  work  coldly. 

0  most  excellent  Leo, far  from  conceiving  any  evil 
design  against  you,  I  wish  you  the  most  precious 
blessings  for  all  eternity.     One  thing  only  have 

1  done.     I  have  defended  the  word  of  truth.     I 
am  ready  to  give  way  to  every  one  in  every  thing; 
but  as  it  regards  that  word,  I  will  not,  I  cannot 
abandon  it." 

The  facts  and  principles  to  which  we  have 
referred,  as  lying  at  the  basis  of  this  great  revolu 
tion,  are  strikingly  illustrated  in  Luther's  appear 
ance  before  the  Diet  of  Worms,  at  which  point 
the  Reformation  seemed  to  culminate.  It  is 
one  of  the  sublimest  passages  in  history,  and 


456  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

deserves  the  study  of  all  who  would  understand 
the  spirit  of  Luther  and  the  Reformation. 

Every  one  familiar  with  history  knows  the 
nature  and  object  of  that  august  assembly  or 
Diet,  which,  under  Charles  V.,  of  Germany,  was 
held  at  Worms,  and  before  which  Luther  was 
cited  to  appear  and  retract  his  heresies.  He  had 
received  a  safe  conduct  from  the  emperor,  but 
his  friends  feared  that  it  would  not  protect  him, 
and  that  his  life  would  be  endangered.  Already 
condemned  by  the  pope,  it  was  only  necessary 
for  the  secular  authorities  to  execute  the  sen 
tence.  Every  where  his  books  were  burned  by 
order  of  the  Papal  court,  and  although  his  friends 
were  numerous  and  powerful,  his  enemies  were 
yet  more  numerous  and  powerful.  He  was  sick 
and  feeble,  but  he  felt  that  he  must  appear  at 
Worms,  and  testify  to  the  truth.  His  brethren 
earnestly  dissuaded  him ;  but  he  must  go.  A 
few  friends  accompanied  him  on  his  journey.  At 
Weimar  he  heard  of  the  condemnation  and 
burning  of  his  books.  The  herald  asked  him  if  he 
would  proceed.  "  Yes,"  replied  Luther,  "  though 
I  should  be  put  under  interdict  in  every  town, 
I  will  go  on.  I  rely  on  the  emperor's  safe  con 
duct." 

In  some  of  the  towns  on  the  way,  particularly 
at  Erfurt,  he  was  welcomed  with  joy.  Here 
he  preached,  with  vigor  and  comfort,  on  the  great 


THE    REFORMATION.  457 

doctrine  of  salvation  through  Christ.  He  never 
once  alluded  to  the  object  of  his  journey;  his 
whole  mind  and  heart  were  engaged  on  the  glo 
rious  theme.  At  Eisenach  he  was  taken  sud 
denly  ill.  Thgy  bled  him,  and  administered 
cordials,  and  on  the  following  morning  he  re 
sumed  his  journey. 

Crowds  of  the  common  people  followed  him, 
in  all  the  towns  through  which  he  passed.  "  Ah," 
said  some,  "  there  are  plenty  of  cardinals  and 
bishops  at  Worms.  You  will  be  burned  alive, 
and  your  body  reduced  to  ashes,  as  they  did 
with  John  Huss."  Luther  replied  deliberately, 
"  Though  they  should  kindle  a  fire  whose  flame 
should  reach  from  Worms  to  Wittemberg,  and 
rise  up  to  heaven,  I  would  go  through  it  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  and  stand  before  them.  I 
would  enter  the  jaws  of  Behemoth,  break  his 
teeth,  and  confess  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

One  day,'as  he  was  entering  an  inn,  one  of  the 
crowd,  who  pressed  around  him,  made  his  way 
to  him  and  said,  "  Are  you  the  man  who  has 
taken  in  hand  to  reform  the  Papacy  ?  How  can 
you  expect  to  succeed  ?  "  "  Yes,"  answered 
Luther,  "  I  am  the  man.  I  place  my  dependence 
upon  Almighty  God,  whose  word  and  command 
ment  is  before  me."  The  officer,  deeply  affected, 
gazed  on  him  affectionately,  and  said,  "  Dear 
friend,  there  is  much  in  what  you  say ;  I  am  a 
39 


45S  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

servant  of  Charles,  but  your  Master  is  greater 
than  mine.  He  will  keep  and  protect  you." 

On  Sunday,  the  14th  of  April,  Luther  arrived 
in  Frankfort.  The  pope's  emissaries  were 
amazed  and  alarmed.  They  had  no  idea  that  he 
would  obey  the  summons.  They  expected  to 
condemn  him  unheard.  It  was  their  intent, 
therefore,  to  stop  his  progress  ;  and  they  did  every 
thing  to  effect  their  purpose.  His  own  friends 
were  undecided.  But  the  reformer  never  once 
hesitated.  He  was  going  in  the  strength  of  God, 
and,  whatever  might  be  the  issue,  he  must  honor 
Christ  before  kings  and  emperors.  It  was  inti 
mated  to  him  that  the  emperor's  confessor,  Gla- 
pio,  who  had  come  on  purpose  to  prevent,  or,  at 
least,  to  retard  his  arrival,  wished  to  see  him. 
"  I  shall  go  on,"  said  he,  "  and  if  the  emperor's 
confessor  has  any  thing  to  say  to  me,  he  will 
find  rne  at  Worms." 

Spalatin,  his  friend  and  counsellor,  and  the 
elector's  chaplain,  on  whom  Luther  much  de 
pended  for  protection  and  aid,  in  case  of  diffi 
culty,  was  himself  filled  with  apprehension.  The 
elector  was  yet  undecided,  and  might  abandon 
Luther  to  his  enemies.  He  heard  from  all  quar 
ters  that  the  safe  conduct  would  be  violated. 
Alarmed,  he  despatched  a  servant  to  meet  Luther 
a  little  way  beyond  the  city,  with  this  message  : 
"  Abstain  from  entering  Worms."  Luther  fixed 


THE    REFORMATION.  459 

his  eyes  sternly  on  the  messenger  :  "  Go  tell  your 
master"  said  he,  " that  though  there  should  be  as 
many  devils  at  Worms  as  there  are  tiles,  on  its 
roofs,  Iivould  enter  it."  Thus  rose  the  high  spirit 
of  Luther,  as  he  drew  near  the  scene  of  danger 
and  trial.  He  felt  himself  "  strong  in  the  Lord, 
and  in  the  power  of  his  might."  The  messenger 
delivered  the  astounding  message.  "  I  was  then 
intrepid,"  said  Luther,  a  few  days  before  his 
death;  "I  feared  nothing.  God  can  give  this 
boldness  to  man.  I  know  not  whether  now  I 
should  have  as  much  liberty  and  joy." 

Some  young  noblemen  and  others  rode  out  of 
the  city  to  meet  Luther,  and  escorted  him  within 
the  walls.  The  place  was  filled  with  excitement. 
Nothing  was  thought  of,  nothing  talked  of,  but 
the  arrival  of  the  intrepid  monk.  At  a  late  hour, 
he  rested  in  his  hotel,  the  gates  were  shut,  and 
all  was  still.  Whether  he  should  ever  go  beyond 
these  guarded  walls,  God  only  knew.  Luther 
himself  enjoyed  perfect  peace.  He  was  filled 
with  a  holy  enthusiasm.  It  seemed  as  if  Christ 
was  standing  by  him  all  the  time.  He  calmly 
awaited  his  citation  before  the  Diet  on  the  fol 
lowing  day.  In  the  morning,  however,  his 
strength  suddenly  failed  him.  His  mind  was 
agitated  by  a  profound  and  fearful  struggle. 
He  seemed  to  drink  of  the  cup  of  Christ.  He 
threw  himself  with  his  face  upon  the  earth,  and 


460  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

•uttered,  in  broken  cries  and  sobs,  expressions 
which  God  alone  can  appreciate,  expressions 
never  to  be  interpreted  literally,  and  which  the 
deep  and  terrible  anguish  of  the  spirit  alone  can 
justify.  In  these,  however,  we  discover  the 
complete  sincerity  and  self-abnegation  of  the 
man,  and  the  simple,  childlike  faith  he  was  wont 
to  exercise  in  God.  They  are  the  cry  of  a  wound 
ed  spirit,  dreading  to  be  severed  from  God  in  the 
hour  of  its  deepest  trial.  "  O  God,  Almighty 
God  everlasting  !  how  dreadful  is  the  world  !  be 
hold  how  its  mouth  opens  to  swallow  me  up, 
and  how  small  is  my  faith  in  thee!  O,  the 
weakness  of  the  flesh,  and  the  power  of  Satan ! 
If  I  am  to  depend  upon  any  strength  of  this 
world,  all  is  over.  .  .  .  The  knell  is  struck 
.  .  .  Sentence  is  gone  forth.  .  .  .  O  God ! 

0  God !   O  thou  my  God !  help  me  against  all 
the  wisdom  of  this  world.     Do   this,  I  beseech 
thee ;    thou    shouldst   do   this,    ...    by  thine 
own   mighty  power.     .    .     .     The  work   is   not 
mine,  but  thine.     I  have  no  business  here.    .    .    . 

1  have  nothing  to  contend  for  with  these  great 
men  of  the  world  !  I  would  gladly  pass  my  days 
in  happiness  and  peace.     But  the  cause  is  thine, 
.    .    .     and  it  is   righteous  and  everlasting !    O 
Lord,  help   me !    O    faithful    and    unchangeable 
God !     I    lean    not   upon    man.     It   were    vain ! 
Whatever  is  of  man  is  tottering,  whatever  pro- 


THE    INFORMATION.  461 

ceeds  from  him  must  fail.  My  God!  my  God! 
dost  thou  not  hear  ?  My  God !  art  thou  no 
longer  living  ?  Nay,  thou  canst  not  die !  Thou 
dost  but  hide  thyself.  Thou  hast  chosen  me 
for  this  work.  I  know  it !  Therefore,  O  God. 
accomplish  thine  own  will!  Forsake  me  not, 
for  the  sake  of  thy  well-beloved  Son  Jesus  Christ, 
my  defence,  my  buckler,  and  my  stronghold." 

After  a  moment  of  silent  struggle,  he  con 
tinues  :  "  Lord,  where  art  thou  ?  My  God, 
where  art  thou  ?  Come,  I  beseech  thee,  I  am 
ready.  .  .  .  Behold  me  prepared  to  lay  down  my 
life  for  the  truth,  .  .  .  suffering  like  a  lamb.  For 
thy  cause  is  holy.  It  is  thine  own !  .  .  .  I  will 
not  let  thee  go!  no,  nor  yet  for  all  eternity!  And 
though  the  world  should  be  thronged  with  devils, 
and  this  body,  which  is  the  work  of  thy  hands, 
should  be  cast  forth,  trodden  under  foot,  cut  in 
pieces,  .  .  .  consumed  to  ashes,  .  .  .  my  soul  is 
thine !  Yes,  I  have  thine  own  word  to  assure 
me  of  it.  My  soul  belongs  to  thee,  and  will 
abide  with  thee  forever  !  Amen  !  O  God,  send 
help!  .  .  .  Amen!" 

Here  is  revealed  the  secret  of  Luther's  pow 
er,  and  here  the  secret  of  the  Reformation.  If 
Christ  was  not  in  it,  Christ  was  never  in  the  gar 
den,  or  on  the  cross. 

Four  o'clock  arrived.  All  things  were  ready. 
Luther  set  out,  God  had  heard  his  prayer. 
39* 


4>  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

Through  a  dense  crowd  he  reached  the  town 
hall;  a  passage  was  cleared  by  the  soldiers. 
The  place  was  crowded;  above, below,  windows, 
staircases,  all  were  filled.  As  he  drew  near  the 
door  which  was  to  admit  him  into  the  presence  of 
his  judges,  George  Freundsberg,  a  valiant  knight, 
seeing  Luther  pass,  touched  him  on  the  shoulder, 
and  shaking  his  head,  grown  gray  amid  the  din 
of  battle,  said  kindly,  "  My  poor  monk,  my  poor 
monk,  thou  hast  a  march  and  a  struggle  to  go 
through  such  as  neither  I  nor  many  other  cap 
tains  have  seen  the  like  in  our  most  bloody  bat 
tles.  But  if  thy  cause  be  just,  and  thou  art  sure 
of  it,  go  forward  in  God's  name,  and  fear  noth 
ing!  He  will  not  forsake  thee." 

And  now  Luther  stood  in  the  presence  of 
Charles  V.,  "whose  kingdom  extended  across 
two  hemispheres,  associated  with  electors, 
dukes,  margraves,  archbishops,  bishops,  and 
prelates,  ambassadors  from  various  countries, 
including  France  and  England,  deputies  of  free 
cities,  and  a  great  multitude  of  counts  and 
barons,  the  pope's  nuncio,  and  other  dignitaries. 

His  very  appearance  there,  so  dreaded  by  the 
Papal  court,  was  a  victory.  Some  princes  were 
near  him,  one  of  whom,  affected  by  his  dignified 
appearance,  whispered,  "  Fear  not  them  who  are 
able  to  kill  the  body,  but  cannot  destroy  the 
soul."  Another  said,  "When  you  are  brought 


TI5K    REFORMATION.  463 

before  kings,  it  shall  be  given  you  by  the  Spirit 
of  your  Father  what  you  shall  say." 

Luther  was  addressed,  at  the  command  of  the 
emperor,  by  the  imperial  counsellor  Eck,  who 
said  that  he  had  been  called  before  the  imperial 
Diet  to  answer  these  two  questions :  "  First, 
whether  you  acknowledge  these  books  (a  large 
pile  of  which  lay  on  the  table)  to  be  yours,  or 
not ;  secondly,  whether  you  will  retract  them  or 
not,  or  whether  you  will  adhere  to  them  still." 

Before  Luther  replied,  Schurf,  his  counsellor, 
said,  "  Let  the  titles  of  the  books  be  read." 
Then  the  official  read  over  the  titles,  among 
which  were  Exposition  of  certain  Psalms,  Trea 
tise  on  Good  Works,  Explanation  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  others,  mostly  of  a  practical  char 
acter. 

Luther  acknowledged  that  the  books  were  his. 
But  "  touching  the  next  point,"  he  added,  with 
noble  simplicity  and  prudence,  "  whether  I  will 
maintain  these  or  retract  them,  seeing  it  is  a 
question  of  faith,  and  of  one's  salvation,  and  of 
the  word  of  God,  which  is  the  greatest  treasure 
in  heaven  and  earth,  and  deserving  at  all  times 
our  highest  reverence,  it  would  be  rash  and 
perilous  for  me  to  speak  inconsiderately,  and 
affirm,  without  reflection,  either  more  or  less 
than  is  consistent  with  truth  ;  for  in  either  case 
I  should  fall  under  the  sentence  of  Christ,  '  He 


464  CIIKlbT    IN    HISTORY. 

that  denieth  me  before  men,  him  will  I  deny  be 
fore  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.'  Therefore 
I  beg  of  your  imperial  majesty  time  for  reflec 
tion,  that  I  may  be  able  to  reply  to  the  question 
proposed  without  prejudice  to  the  word  of  God 
or  to  my  own  salvation." 

Though  it  was  intimated  that  he  did  not  deserve 
the  clemency,  it  was  granted  by  the  emperor. 

The  gravity  of  the  question  at  issue,  and  this 
solemn  suspense,  only  heightened  the  interest  of 
the  occasion. 

What  were  Luther's  feelings  at  this  time  we 
learn  from  one  of  his  letters.  After  informing 
his  friend  what  had  transpired,  and  that  he  had 
asked  time  for  deliberation,  he  adds,  "  This  is  all 
the  time  I  asked,  and  all  that  they  would  give. 
But,  Christ  being  gracious  to  me,  I  will  not  re 
tract  one  iota." 

His  friends  crowded  around  him  with  words 
of  cheer ;  and  he  received  from  the  warrior-poet 
and  reformer,  Ulricvon  Hutten,  the  following  in 
spiring  letter,  addressed  to  his  "  holy  friend,  the  in 
vincible  theologian  and  evangelist :"  "  Fight  cour 
ageously  for  Christ,  and  yield  not  to  wrong,  but  go 
forth  confidently  to  meet  it.  Endure  as  a  good 
soldier  of  Jesus,  and  suffer  that  the  gift  which 
is  in  you  may  be  called  out,  and  be  assured  that 
He  on  whom  you  have  believed  can  preserve 
what  you  have  committed  to  him  till  that  day. 


THE    KEFORMATION.  465 

I  also  will  take  strong  hold  of  the  work ;  but 
there  is  this  difference  in  our  undertakings,  that 
mine  is  human,  while  you,  far  more  perfect, 
cleave  wholly  to  divine  things."  Von  Hutten  had 
at  other  times  proffered  Luther  the  aid  of  "car 
nal  weapons,"  but  Luther  uniformly  declined 
all  such  help.  His  reliance  was  on  the  arm  of 
God. 

On  the  succeeding  day,  in  the  afternoon,  Luther 
was  again  summoned  to  the  Diet,  when,  after 
waiting  some  time,  the  lamps  being  lighted,  and 
the  immense  crowd  eager  and  expectant,  the 
official  called  upon  him  to  answer  to  the  ques 
tion  previously  laid  before  him.  Luther  replied 
with  modesty  and  calmness,  but  with  the  utmost 
clearness  and  decision.  He  classified  his  books, 
saying  that  in  some  he  had  treated  of  works  of 
faith  and  piety  with  such  Christian  plainness 
and  simplicity,  that  even  his  enemies  did  not 
deny  their  harmlessness,  utility,  and  worth.  To 
retract  these  would  be  to  condemn  the  truth 
confessed  by  all.  The  second  class  of  his  works 
were  directed  against  the  Papacy  and  the  Pa 
pists,  as  corrupting  and  injuring  all  Christendom 
with  their  teaching  and  example.  He  urged 
that  by  the  laws  and  teachings  of  the  Papacy, 
souls  are  enslaved  and  injured,  and  that  goods 
and  possessions,  especially  in  Germany,  are  de 
voured  by  their  incredible  tyranny.  They  them- 


466  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

selves  have  ordained  by  their  own  decrees,  that 
the  laws  and  doctrines  of  the  pope,  which  are 
contrary  to  the  gospel  and  the  teachings  of  the 
fathers,  be  regarded  as  erroneous.  Were  he  to 
revoke  this  class  of  books,  he  would  but  increase 
the  strength  of  tyranny,  and  leave  open  not 
merely  a  window,  but  a  door  and  a  gate,  to 
wickedness,  wider  than  ever.  The  third  class  of 
his  books  were  personal,  and  written  against 
those  who  had  opposed  reform,  and  vindicated 
the  tyranny  of  Rome.  Against  these,  he  had, 
he  acknowledged,  been  more  violent  than  was 
becoming.  But  even  these  books  he  could  not 
retract,  because  by  this  means  he  would  give  his 
influence  to  Roman  tyranny,  which  would  crush 
the  people's  rights  more  mercilessly  than  ever. 

But  as  he  was  a  man,  and  not  God,  he  would 
not  do  for  his  books  otherwise  than  Christ  had 
done  for  his  doctrines,  who,  when  questioned 
respecting  them  by  Annas,  and  smitten  on  the 
cheek  by  the  servant,  said,  "  If  I  have  spoken 
wrong,  then  show  it  to  be  wrong."  On  which 
ground  he  respectfully  urged  them  to  cause  plain 
proof  to  be  brought  against  them  from  the  words 
of  Christ  and  his  holy  apostles,  and  he  would 
be  the  first  to  cast  them  into  the  fire. 

When  his  address  was  ended,  though  exhausted 
by  the  effort  and  the  extreme  heat,  he  was  re 
quested  to  repeat  it  in  Latin,  for  the  benefit  of 


THE    REFORMATION.  467 

those  who  did  not  understand  German.  After  a 
slight  hesitation,  he  complied  with  the  request, 
in  a  calm,  clear,  deliberate  voice. 

He  was  accused  by  the  imperial  orator  of  evad 
ing  the  question,  and  urged  to  give  a  plain,  cate 
gorical  answer,  whether  he  would  retract  or  not. 
He  replied,  "  Since  your  imperial  majesty  and 
lordships  desire  a  direct  answer,  I  will  give  one 
which  has  neither  horns  nor  teeth  ;  and  it  is  this : 
Unless  I  shall  be  convinced  by  the  testimony  of 
Scripture,  or  by  clear  and  plain  argument,  (for  I 
do  not  believe  either  in  the  pope  or  in  the  coun 
cils  alone,  because  it  is  plain  and  evident  they 
have  often  erred  and  contradicted  each  other,)  J 
am  held  by  those  passages  which  I  have  cited, 
and  am  bound  by  my  conscience  and  the  word 
of  God,  and  therefore  I  may  not,  I  cannot  re 
tract,  inasmuch  as  it  is  neither  safe  nor  right 
to  violate  my  conscience.  Here  I  stand,  I  can 
not  do  otherwise,  so  help  me  God.  Amen  !  " 

Thus  nobly  and  courageously  Luther  clung  to 
the  word  of  God.  If  that  failed,  he  failed  —  if 
that  stood,  he  stood.  "  Hier  stehe  ich  —  Ich  kan 
nicht  anders  !  Gott  helfe  mir.  Amen  !  " 

After  much  discussion,  Luther  was  finally  con 
demned  by  the  emperor ;  but  as  he  had  a  safe 
conduct,  which  even  Charles  V.  did  not  dare  to 
violate,  he  was  permitted  to  go  unmolested. 
%  Hundreds  were  ready  to  defend  him;  but  he 


468  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

needed  no  defence,  but  the  consciousness  of  right 
and  the  protection  of  the  Almighty.  Much  effort 
had  been  made,  before  the  final  sentence,  to  in 
duce  him  to  retract.  But  he  stood  firm  as  a  rock  ; 
"  he  had  given  his  answer,  he  could  not  retract." 
He  was  willing  even  to  forego  his  safe  conduct, 
and  "resign  his  person  and  life  to  the  emperor's 
disposal ;  but  as  to  the  word  of  God —  never!  " 

In  leaving  Worms,  Luther's  heart  was  filled 
with  unutterable  peace  and  joy.  "  Satan  him 
self,"  said  he,  "  kept  the  pope's  citadel ;  but  Christ 
has  made  a  wide  breach  in  it,  and  the  devil  has 
been  compelled  to  confess  that  Christ  is  mightier 
than  he." 

The  Diet  of  Worms  decided  the  fate  of  the 
Reformation.  Thenceforward  the  Elector  of 
Saxony,  and  many  others,  gave  themselves  to  it, 
heart  and  soul.  The  echo  of  that  occasion  re 
sounded  far  and  near,  in  Germany,  France,  and 
Switzerland,  and  even  as  far  as  England  and 
Scotland.  The  word  of  God  was  more  precious 
than  ever.  Thousands,  in  the  spirit  of  Luther, 
exclaimed,  "Here  we  stand  —  we  cannot  do 
otherwise.  God  help  us.  Amen  !  " 

On  his  arrival  at  Frankfort,  Luther,  rejoicing 
in  God,  wrote  the  following  familiar,  energetic 
letter  to  his  dear  friend  Lucas  Cranach,  the  paint 
er,  of  Witternberg  —  "  My  service  to  you,  dear 
Master  Lucas.  I  expected  his  majesty  would 


THE   REFORMATION.  469 

assemble  fifty  learned  doctors  to  convict  the 
monk  outright.  But  not  at  all.  Are  these  books 
of  your  writing  ?  Yes.  Will  you  retract  them  ? 
No  !  Well,  begone  !  There  's  the  whole  his 
tory.  Deluded  Germans,  how  childishly  we 
act!  —  how  we  are  duped  and  defrauded  by 
Rome  !  Let  the  Jews  sing  their  yo !  yo  !  yo  ! 
But  a  passover  is  coming  for  us  also,  and  then 
we  will  sing  Hallelujah !  We  must  keep  silence, 
and  endure  for  a  short  time.  '  A  little  while  and 
ye  shall  not  see  me,  and  again  a  little  while  and 
ye  shall  see  me,'  said  Jesus  Christ.  I  trust  I  may 
say  the  same.  Farewell.  I  commend  you  all 
to  the  Eternal.  May  he  preserve  in  Christ  your 
understanding  and  your  faith  from  the  attacks 
of  the  wolves  and  the  dragons  of  Rome.  Amen." 
Luther  was  shut  up  in  the  Castle  of  Wartburg, 
in  the  depths  of  the  old  Thuringian  forest,  and 
many  thought  him  dead ;  but  the  word  of  God 
was  not  bound.  Christ  crucified,  the  hope  of  the 
soul,  was  every  where  proclaimed  and  believed. 
The  movement  spread  on  all  the  wings  of  the 
wind.  Great  numbers  deserted  the  Papacy,  and 
turned  to  the  Lord.  Luther  reappeared,  as  faith 
ful  as  ever,  and  maintained  the  long  struggle.  He 
suffered  much,  and  was  willing  to  die.  Indeed, 
he  was  weary  of  the  world,  so  full  of  contention, 
oppression,  and  sin.  But  his  trust  was  in  God 
his  Redeemer.  He  departed  in  peace  at  Eisleben, 
40 


470  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

the  place  of  his  birth.  Three  times  quickly  he 
repeated  the  words,  "  Father,  into  thy  hands  I 
commend  my  spirit;  thou  hast  redeemed  me,  thou 
faithful  God."  Then  he  was  quiet.  The  attend 
ants  shook  him,  rubbed  him,  and  spoke  to  him  ; 
but  he  closed  his  eyes,  and  made  no  reply.  Jonas 
and  Coelius  then  spoke  to  him  very  loud,  and 
said,  "  Venerable  father,  do  you  die  trusting 
in  Christ,  and  in  the  doctrine  which  you  have 
preached  ?  "  and  he  answered  distinctly,  "  Yes," 
and  turning  upon  his  right  side,  slept  a  short 
period,  when,  with  folded  hands,  with  one  gentle 
breath  and  sigh,  he  passed  away.* 

There  were  many  obstacles  to  the  progress  of 
the  Reformation ;  some  confusion,  some  disorders 
were  the  result ;  but  God  raised  up  many  great 
and  good  men,  in  various  places,  to  preach  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  and  the  work  of  renovation  ad 
vanced.  Christ  was  in  it  as  a  power  of  hope 


*  We  have  dwelt  upon  the  Reformation  chiefly  as  it  developed 
itself  in  the  centre  of  continental  Europe.  We  might  trace,  were 
it  necessary,  the  action  of  the  same  principles  in  England  and  Scot 
land.  In  these  countries  the  Reformation  had  an  independent  origin, 
though  vastly  aided  by  the  movement  in  Germany.  For  informa 
tion  upon  the  history  of  the  Reformation  in  England  and  Scotland, 
see  Burnet's  History  of  the  Reformation,  Blunt's  History  of  the 
English  Reformation,  D'Aubigne's  fifth  volume  of  his  History  of 
the  Reformation,  Neale's  History  of  the  Puritans,  McCries's  Life 
of  John  Knox,  Hetherington's  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland. 
For  an  admirable  exposition  of  the  spirt  and  aim  of  Knox,  see  the 
Westminster  Review  for  July,  ISoS. 


THE    REFORMATION.  471 

and  transformation  to  many  souls  and  many  lands. 
It  was  as  if  the  frosts  of  a  long  winter  had  dis 
solved,  and  quickening  spring  was  breathing 
through  the  forests  of  Germany,  and  the  moun 
tains  of  Switzerland,  and  far  off  amid  the  plains 
of  England,  and  the  hills  of  Scotland.  The 
waters  of  life,  long  pent  up  among  frozen  rocks, 
let  loose  by  the  breath  of  God,  were  rolling  and 
flashing  under  the  deepening  radiance.  The 
wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  were  glad,  the 
desert  rejoiced  and  blossomed  as  the  rose. 

In  all  violent  transitions,  however,  much  evil 
is  developed  along  with  the  good.  Human  pas 
sions  and  interests  ever  mingle  with  divine  insti 
tutions.  Individuals,  as  well  as  churches  and 
communities,  are  only  partially  "  sanctified." 
Some  are  grievously  defective,  others  are  selfish 
and  tumultuous.  Besides,  action  and  reaction 
ever  correspond  to  each  other ;  if  the  pendulum 
is  held  far  in  one  direction,  it  will  swing  the  far 
ther  in  the  other.  Some  tumult  and  irregularity 
mingle  in  the  grandest  revolutions. 

All  this  we  see  in  the  Reformation  of  the  six 
teenth  century ;  yet  it  was  the  revival  of  primitive 
Christianity.  It  was  a  power  of  life  and  blessing 
to  the  nations,  and  to  myriads  of  individual  souls, 
who  "justified  by  faith,"  had,  in  life  and  in  death, 
"  peace  with  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 
The  word  of  God  was  emancipated.  Noble  re- 


4:72  CH11IST    IN    HISTOKY. 

formed  churches  were  established.  Thence  sprang 
freedom  and  justice,  activity  and  advancement. 
Thence  came  Bacon,  Newton,  and  Howard,  John 
Milton  and  Thomas  Chalmers,  with  that  high, 
progressive  civilization,  yet  destined  to  cover  the 
earth.* 

*  It  might  be  interesting  here  to  show  how  the  Reformation 
reacted  powerfully  on  the  Papal  church,  and,  consequently,  on  all 
Roman  Catholic  countries.  Its  spirit  is  diffused  beyond  Protestant 
bounds.  It  is  at  work  among  all  civilized  nations.  It  is  the  leaven 
which  must  leaven  the  whole  mass.  But  the  facts  are  obvious  ;  and 
we  leave  the  matter  to  the  reflection  of  intelligent  men. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

CHRIST  IN  MODERN  SOCIETY. 

IN  all  ages,  among  the  modern  as  well  as 
among  the  ancient  nations,  we  find  the  influence 
of  two  great  elements,  or  factors  — the  finite  and 
the  infinite,  the  human  and  the  divine.  In  the 
finite  and  human  is  the  tendency  to  imperfection, 
consequently  to  division,  disorder,  and  death.  In 
the  infinite  is  the  tendency  to  perfection,  conse 
quently  to  unity,  order,  and  life.  And  as  the 
finite  and  the  infinite,  in  their  action,  are  blended 
in  the  constitution  and  course  of  things,  we  find 
the  manifestations  of  the  latter,  in  the  moral 
sphere,  greatly  modified  by  circumstances.  Hence 
the  striking  variations  and  contrasts  in  history, 
the  singular  ebb  and  flow  of  society,  its  convul 
sions  and  revulsions,  its  retrogression  and  pro 
gression.  In  some  ages,  and  among  some 
nations,  we  meet  an  apparent  predominance  of 
evil,  yet  ever  with  a  struggle  and  tendency  to 
good.  God  does  not  leave  himself  without  a  wit 
ness,  either  in  nature  or  in  society.  Every  where 
he  works  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will.  The 
process  is  invisible  and  mysterious,  and  often  to 

40  *  (473) 


474  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

our  view,  sadly  checked  and  disarranged.  Still 
it  advances,  and,  in  due  time,  discovers  its  resist 
less  force.  Individuals  arise  who  recognize  "  the 
divine,"  and  endeavor  to  advance  society  in  the 
direction  of  God  and  perfection.  Organs  of  the 
infinite,  certain  institutions,  and  certain  races, 
are  found  better  adapted  than  others  for  the  re 
ception  and  communication  of  the  truth.  Oppo 
sition  and  difficulty  exist  among  all,  because 
imperfection  and  sin  exist  in  all.  But  the 
divine  element  struggles  onward  and  upward. 
Its  tendency  is  ever  to  unity  and  perfection.  In 
its  higher  development,  as  in  Christianity,  which 
is  only  the  infinite  organized  and  embodied  in 
human  forms,  we  see  this  great  fact  strikingly 
revealed.  Order  and  perfection  are  its  law,  but 
opposing  influences  come  into  collision  with  it ; 
and  hence  it  is  sometimes  the  cause,  or  rather 
occasion,  of  disturbance  and  disorder.  But  its 
movement  is  always  in  the  right  direction.  Like 
the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  of  fire  by  night, 
before  the  Jewish  army,  it  leads  society  in  the 
wilderness.  Obstacles  vanish,  or  fall  into  its 
train,  while  the  race  is  moved  onward  to  its 
goal. 

Ages,  however,  are  needed  for  the  mighty  evo 
lution.  The  infinite  is  slow,  but  sure.  It  moves 
through  time,  as  if  time  were  eternity.  Indeed, 
time  is  as  nothing  to  the  infinite.  "  One  day  is 


MODERN    SOCIETY.  475 

with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thou 
sand  years  as  one  day."  But  that  which  endures 
conquers  at  last.  Therefore  the  kingdom  will 
come,  and  the  whole  earth  be  subdued  to  God. 
"  The  movements  of  Providence,"  says  Guizot, 
looking  at 'the  successive  developments  of  human 
civilization,  "are  not  restricted  to  narrow  bounds; 
it  is  not  anxious  to  deduce  to-day  the  conse 
quence  of  the  premises  it  laid  down  yesterday. 
It  may  defer  this  for  ages,  till  the  fulness  of  the 
time  shall  come.  Its  logic  will  not  be  less  con 
clusive  for  reasoning  slowly.  Providence  moves 
through  time,  as  the  gods  of  Homer  through 
space  ;  it  makes  a  step,  and  ages  have  rolled 
away !  How  long  a  time,  how  many  circum 
stances,  intervened  before  the  regeneration  of  the 
moral  powers  of  man,  by  Christianity,  exercised 
its  great,  its  legitimate  influence  upon  his  social 
condition  !  Yet  who  can  doubt  or  mistake  its 
power  ?  "  Thus  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth 
century  has  come  and  gone ;  and  now  all  things 
are  preparing  for  a  second  and  grander  reforma 
tion.  Obstacles  oppose  it ;  yet  who  doubts  that 
it  will  come  ?  Who  doubts  that  the  whole  world 
shall  yet  see  the  glory  of  God  ? 

We  are  not  to  be  surprised,  then,  if  in  Christi 
anity,  and  in  the  Christian  form  of  civilization, 

*  History  of  Civilization,  vol.  i.  p.  28. 


476  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

we  find  the  constant,  and  even  violent  struggle 
of  opposing  powers.  But  Christianity,  like  the 
infinite  factor,  is  never  defeated,  above  all,  never 
extinguished.  Cast  down,  and,  to  all  appear 
ance,  fit  only  for  the  grave,  it  rises  again,  renews 
its  energies,  augments  its  resources,  and  goes 
forth  among  men  conquering  and  to  conquer.  It 
thus  vindicates  its  title  to  the  character  of  a  su 
pernatural  power.  It  works  together  with  God; 
its  tendency  is  to  universal  dominion. 

Hence  Christianity  will  generally  be  found  as 
sociated  with  the  strongest  races ;  rather,  perhaps, 
it  will  assist  in  forming  the  strongest  races.  How 
rapidly  it  allied  itself  with  the  Romans,  the 
strongest  race  on  the  globe !  but  finding  Rome, 
with  all  its  resources,  debauched  by  vice,  and 
consequently  imbecile  at  heart,  it  left  it  for  the 
Germanic  and  Anglo-Saxon  tribes.  It  seized 
upon  those  rude,  muscular  races,  and  brought 
them  into  unity  and  order.  It  gave  them  laws 
and  civilization.  At  first,  it  seemed  to  oppress 
them,  but  it  finally  lifted  them  up,  giving  them 
freedom  and  power.  And  now  they  are  the 
central  races,  the  strongest  and  most  influential 
of  all. 

The  process,  to  our  view,  has  been  difficult  and 
slow,  with  many  interruptions  and  convulsive 
throes ;  but  its  movement  has  now  become  more 
clear  and  decisive.  The  Reformation  was  one  step 


MODERN    SOCIETY.  477 

in  advance,  much  impeded  we  grant,  and  even  now 
only  partially  developed.  The  result  however  is 
grand  and  beautiful,  and  so  obvious,  that  he  who 
runs  may  read  it.  That  result  is  nothing  less 
than  the  possession  by  Christianity,  as  a  central 
or  supernatural  power,  of  the  most  valuable  por 
tions  of  the  globe,  and  the  leading  forces  of 
modern  civilization.  In  some  of  the  nations 
professedly  Christian,  Christianity  is  developed 
with  greater  purity  and  vigor  than  in  others  ; 
but  in  all  she  occupies  a  position  of  influence 
and  command.  Individuals,  nay,  whole  masses, 
may  reject  her  claims,  while  others  misapprehend 
and  misapply  her  principles ;  but  she  keeps  her 
place  notwithstanding,  and  by  invisible  influences 
guides  and  controls  even  her  enemies.  Often 
checked  and  abused,  she  only  bides  her  time  to 
bring  all  into  unity  and  submission.  Those  who 
oppose  her  sometimes  blindly  fulfil  her  designs. 
Yet  Christianity  is  the  very  reverse  both  of  scep 
ticism  and  despotism.  She  will  yet  convert  the 
one,  and  extinguish  the  other.  With  this  view, 
and  as  by  a  natural  instinct,  she  allies  herself  to 
science  and  art,  to  literature  arid  commerce.  She 
works  even  through  revolutions.  They  prepare 
the  way  of  the  Lord  ;  they  make  straight  in  the 
desert  (of  despotism)  a  highway  for  our  God. 
All  improvements  in  mechanics,  and  the  means 
of  locomotion  through  the  world,  aid  her  prog- 


478  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

less.  She  goes  forth  over  all  seas  and  lands, 
on  tours  of  exploration,  takes  possession  of  fa 
vorable  positions  all  along  the  lines  of  business 
and  travel,  plants  her  colonies  and  schools  here, 
there,  every  where,  and  thus  prepares  herself,  one 
of  these  days,  to  occupy  the  whole. 

Thus,  after  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire,  and 
the  destruction  of  the  ancient  civilization,  Chris 
tianity  took  possession  of  Germany,  France,  and 
Scandinavia,  then  of  England  and  Scotland, 
then  of  the  United  States  of  America,  with 
Canada  and  Australia.  And  now,  especially 
through  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States, 
she  commands  an  approach  to  all  quarters  of 
the  globe.  Comparatively  feeble  in  Russia  and 
France,  she  yet  holds  these  two  nations  in  her 
grasp ;  here,  as  in  England  and  Germany,  she 
may  yet  reform  the  church  and  the  people. 
These  nations  can  never  become  pagan  or 
Mohammedan.  If  they  advance  in  civilization, 
Christianity  will  advance  also,  or  rather  Christian 
ity  will  advance  in  them  as  a  power  of  civiliza 
tion  ;  unless  indeed,  like  Rome  of  old,  through  the 
force  of  despotism  and  vice,  they  should  break  to 
pieces,  and  give  to  Christianity,  released  from 
the  thraldom  of  tyranny,  a  wider  and  more  glo 
rious  field.  Among  all  the  Anglo-Saxon  races, 
Christianity  is  strong,  free,  and  progressive. 
Should  these  races  advance  as  they  have  done, 


MODERN    SOCIETY.  479 

Christianity  will  advance  with  them  to  universal 
conquest.  Much  of  this  is  the  direct  result  of 
the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century,  as  the 
Reformation  itself  was  the  direct  result  of  primi 
tive  Christianity.  By  the  singular  changes  as 
sociated  with  that  event,  or  resulting  from  it,  we 
find  the  purest  and  freest  form  of  religion,  at  this 
moment,  occupying  the  most  commanding  posi 
tions  in  both  hemispheres,  and  wielding  the 
forces  of  the  most  vital,  the  most  enterprising 
extant  civilizations.  From  England,  the  United 
States,  and  portions  of  continental  Europe,  she  is 
planting  her  institutions  in  all  pagan  countries, 
and  acting  powerfully  upon  the  less  advanced 
nations  around  her. 

She  has  thus,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history 
of  the  world,  become  closely  and  permanently 
identified  with  the  progressive  races,  and  with 
all  those  powers  in  society  upon  which  their 
advancement  depends  —  freedom,  activity,  com 
merce,  science,  and  education ;  and  as  these,  by 
a  necessary  law,  tend  to  unity  and  universality, 
so  Christianity  tends  to  unity  and  universality. 

But  to  make  this  clear,  let  us  go  back  a  little, 
and  view  the  actual  state  of  the  world.  It  has 
obviously  come  into  new  positions  and  relations, 
as  Christianity  has  come  into  new  positions  and 
relations. 

Three    forms  of   religion,    or    of    civilization, 


480  CIIRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

divide  the  globe  - —  the  pagan,  the  Mohammedan, 
and  the  Christian.  The  pagan  and  the  Moham 
medan  civilizations  are  confined  chiefly  to  the 
Oriental  world.  They  are  found  also  in  Africa, 
but  in  a  comparatively  feeble,  abnormal  condi 
tion.  It  is  in  the  ancient  and  hoary  East  we 
find  the  seat  of  their  power.  Here  all  things  are 
either  stationary  or  decaying.  Except  in  the 
places  invaded  by  the  influences  of  Christian 
civilization,  all  India,  on  this  side  and  on  that 
side  the  Ganges,  is  old  and  decrepit.  None  of 
the  pagan  nations  advance.  They  make  no  dis 
coveries,  plant  no  colonies,  secure  no  conquests. 
They  do  not  increase,  but  rather  diminish,  in 
numbers.  When  spreading  among  other  nations, 
they  seem  to  lose  themselves  like  streams  in 
the  sandy  desert.  Their  resources,  physical  and 
social,  are  gradually  becoming  exhausted.  They 
fall  before  the  stronger  and  advancing  races.  The 
religions  of  the  heathen  nations  are  antiquated 
and  puerile,  stricken  with  a  fatal  imbecility,  and 
ready  to  vanish  away.  Budhism  and  Brahman- 
ism,  which  divide  the  whole  of  India  beyond  the 
the  Ganges,  already  totter  to  their  fall.  Hindos- 
tan  is  in  the  hands  of  England,  and  China  is 
convulsed  with  revolution,  which,  in  that  land, 
may  extinguish  idolatry. 

The  Mohammedan  form  of  civilization,  once 
so  wide   and  powerful,   has   been   gradually  re- 


MODERN    SOCIETY.  481 

stricted  and  weakened.  At  one  time  ready  to 
swallow  and  extinguish  the  whole  Christian 
civilization,  both  of  Asia  and  Europe,  it  is  now 
in  its  turn  ready  to  be  absorbed  or  extinguished 
by  the  advancing  forces  of  European  civiliza 
tion.  It  is  true  that  it  gives  some  signs  of  re 
viving  life,  but  it  is  only  galvanic  life.  The  in 
fluence  which  has  excited,  perhaps  inspired  it  a 
little,  is  European  and  Christian.  The  nations 
under  its  sway  do  not  advance.  Their  religion 
has  lost  its  ancient  fire.  It  is  feeble  and  effete. 
Turkey  can  scarcely  be  called  a  power  in  the 
world,  except  by  the  support  or  sufferance  of 
others.  She  has  numbers,  to  be  sure,  and  through 
the  force  of  Christian  ideas,  exhibits  a  com 
mendable  liberality  in  some  things  ;  but  she  has 
no  vital  unity,  no  coherent  power.  Her  religion 
cannot  reform  itself — cannot,  therefore,  reform 
the  people.  It  must  gradually  yield  to  the  supe 
rior  forces  around  it.  These  forces  constantly 
press  upon  it,  nay,  more,  penetrate,  as  an  ele 
ment  of  dissolution,  into  its  very  heart.  She  has 
made  advances,  politicians  affirm.  She  is  even 
said  to  promote  European  tactics,  railroads,  and 
electric  telegraphs.  In  other  words,  she  is  put 
ting  new  wine  into  old  bottles.  Her  venerable 

C3 

sages  shake  their  heads  ;  her  sacred  muftis  de 
clare  that  her  glory  is  departed.     Turkey  has  no 
41 


482  CHRIST   IN  HISTORY. 

living  faith,  no  intensity  of  feeling,  no  capacity 
of  real  and  permanent  advance. 

The  rest  of  the  world,  containing  the  richest 
and  most  powerful  nations,  are  more  or  less  un 
der  the  influence  of  Christianity  and  the  Chris 
tian  form  of  civilization.  Moreover,  the  most 
of  these  are  advancing,  and  that,  too,  with 
amazing  rapidity.  Christianity,  simply  as  a  so 
cial  or  civil  power,  may  be  said  to  control  the 
physical  resources  of  the  world.  She  exerts  a 
strange  influence,  even  in  pagan  and  Moham 
medan  lands.  Hers  are  the  ships,  the  roads,  the 
steam  engines,  the  electric  telegraphs,  the  lan 
guages,  the  science  and  the  literature  of  the  na 
tions.  She  can  use  them  all,  and  does  use  them 
all,  for  the  accomplishment  of  her  designs. 

But  Christian  countries,  as  they  are  called, 
themselves  differ  much.  Some  are  far  in  advance 
of  the  others.  Two  or  three  are  feeble,  almost  as 
feeble  as  Mohammedan  countries.  If  not  re 
formed  and  elevated,  they  will  grow  feebler  and 
feebler,  every  day,  and  may  finally  become  ex 
tinct,  like  the  empires  of  antiquity,  which  per 
ished  in  their  sins.  "  That  nation  that  serveth 
not  me,"  saith  God,  "  shall  perish."  Such  are 
dashed  to  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel.  Their 
power  and  their  glory  pass  away  forever.  Hence 
all  the  revolutions  and  convulsions  in  the  past 
history  of  the  world.  Hence  the  volcanic  con- 


MODERN    SOCIETY.  483 

dition  of  some  European,  as  well  as  Asiatic 
states.  "  I  will  overturn,  overturn,  overturn,"  is 
the  declaration  of  the  Almighty,  by  his  prophet, 
"  till  he  come,  whose  right  it  is,  and  I  will  give 
it  [the  dominion]  to  him." 

But  what  is  peculiarly  striking  in  the  present 
condition  of  the  Christian  nations,  with  all  their 
imperfection,  is,  that  Christianity  is  strongest  in 
the  strongest  of  these.  Leaving  France,  Spain, 
and  some  other  Papal  countries  out  of  the  account, 
which  are  growing  weaker  and  weaker  by  the 
force  of  despotism,  or  internal  revolution,  saying 
nothing  also  of  Russia,  with  its  peculiar  position^ 
and  semi-barbarous  races,  Christianity  has  taken 
up  her  abode  more  especially  in  Great  Britain  and 
North  America,  and  through  them  reaches  with 
a  controlling  influence  both  the  eastern  and  the 
western  hemispheres.  To  speak,  however,  with 
more  precision,  England  and  the  United  States, 
it  is  well  known,  have  now  nearly  the  one  fourth 
part  of  the  globe  under  their  control.  England 
sways  her  sceptre  over  a  hundred  and  fifty  mil 
lions  of  the  human  race ;  the  United  States  gov 
ern  about  twenty-five  millions,  so  that  these  two 
command  for  Christianity,  and  Christian  uses, 
one  sixth  of  the  population  of  the  human  race. 
Both,  too,  are  increasing  in  numbers  and  resources 
beyond  all  former  precedent.  England  is  increas 
ing  rapidly,  especially  in  her  colonies,  which  are 


484  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

penetrating  both  Asia  and  Africa,  while  the 
United  States  indulge  in  no  extravagant  expecta 
tion,  when  they  hope,  at  the  close  of  the  nine 
teenth  century,  to  have  a  population,  within  their 
borders,  of  a  hundred  millions. 

These  two  are  the  great  commercial  nations. 
Every  where  they  diffuse  themselves,  and  plant 
extensive  colonies.  Two  thirds  of  all  the  roads 
and  railways,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  oceanic 
steam  navigation  of  the  world,  at  this  moment, 
are  in  their  hands.  Their  language,  their  influ 
ence,  their  usages,  their  ideas,  are  becoming  all 
but  cosmopolitan.  With  the  single  exception  of 
France,  and  even  in  her  case  to  a  very  limited 
extent,  Papal  nations  are  planting  no  colonies, 
and  exerting  little  influence  beyond  their  own 
sphere,  while  all  the  Protestant  nations,  especially 
England  and  the  United  States,  are  taking  pos 
session,  we  trust  for  Christ,  of  some  of  the  most 
interesting  and  influential  portions  of  the  globe. 

The  manner  in  which,  by  a  long  course  of 
preparation,  Christianity  has  taken  possession  of 
the  German  or  Teutonic  race,  including  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  which  we  maintain  to  be  the 
leading'  or  central  race,  in  modern  times,  is  one 
of  the  most  singular  and  striking  events  in  his 
tory.  The  only  other  race  that  can  compete  with 
this  is  the  Slavonic,  including  the  Bohemians, 
Hungarians,  Russians,  and  some  others;  but  this 


MODERN    SOCIETY.  485 

race  is  partly  Protestant,  and  in  the  case  of  the 
Greek  church,  not  without  hope  of  improvement 
and  reformation.  Still,  every  one  must  allow, 
that  the  Slavonic  race,  as  a  mass,  is  far  inferior 
to  the  Anglo-Saxon  in  freedom  and  education, 
in  science,  art,  and  commerce.  What  is  called 
the  Keltic  or  Celtic  race  is,  in  the  judgment  of 
some  of  the  most  acute  and  learned  historians, 
Niebuhr,  Thierry,  Arnold,  and  others,  entirely 
lost.*  The  Latin  races,  as  for  convenience  they 
are  designated,  sometimes  spoken  of  as  Celtic, 
are  a  mixed  people,  partly  Teutonic,  yet  differing 
somewhat  from  what  we  call  the  German  or 
Saxon  stock,  and  deriving  something  of  their 
character  and  tendencies  from  the  admixture  of 
the  old  Roman  or  Italian  elements.  In  these  wo 
include  the  Italians,  Spaniards,  and  to  some 


*  "  In  the  fourth,  century  before  the  Christian  era,  the  Kelts  or 
Gauls  broke  through  the  thin  screen  which  had  hitherto  concealed 
them  from  sight,  and  began  for  the  first  time  to  take  their  part  in 
the  great  drama  of  the  nations.  For  nearly  two  hundred  yonri  they 
continued  to  fill  Europe  and  Asia  with  the  terror  of  their  name;  but 
it  was  a  passing  tempest,  and  if  useful  at  all,  it  was  useful  only  to 
destroy.  The  Gauls  could  communicate  no  essential  points  of  hu 
man  character  in  which  others  might  be  deficient;  they  could  nei 
ther  improve  the  intellectual  state  of  mankind,  nor  its  social  and 
political  relations.  When,  therefore,  they  had  done  their  appointed 
work  of  havoc,  they  were  doomed  to  be  themselves  extirpated,  or  to 
be  lost  amidst  nations  of  greater  creative  and  constructive  power  ; 
nor  is  there  any  race  which  has  left  fewer  traces  of  itself  in  the 
character  and  institutions  of  modern  civilization."  —  Arnold's  Hislo 
ry  of  Rome,  vol.  i.  p.  499. 

41* 


4:86  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

extent,  the  French,  all  belonging  to  the  Latin  or 
Papal  church.  The  south  of  Germany  is  par 
tially  occupied  by  people  of  similar  affinities, 
and  may  be  spoken  of  in  the  same  category. 
By  the  German  or  Saxon  race,  we  mean  the 
Germans  proper,  who  came  from  beyond  the 
Rhine,  who  were  never  subdued  by  the  Roman 
empire,  and  who  in  all  ages,  whether  pagan  or 
Christian,  have  exhibited  singular  energy  and 
independence  of  character.*  To  this  class  belong 
the  Saxons,  Anglo-Saxons,  and  even  Normans, 
the  inhabitants  of  Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden, 
the  north  of  Germany,  the  English,  and  the 
Scotch.  All  have  a  common  origin,  and  com 
mon  characteristics.  Even  in  a  mixed  state, 
they  betray  their  peculiar  affinities  and  tenden 
cies.  Gazing  beyond  the  Rhine,  the  ancient 
frontier  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  the  limit 
therefore  of  two  distinct  worlds,  and  modes  of 
existence,  Roman  and  Teutonic,  Dr.  Arnold 
says,  "  Far  beyond  us  lay  the  land  of  our  Saxon 
and  Teutonic  forefathers  —  the  land  uncorrupted 
by  Roman  or  any  other  mixture ;  the  birthplace 
of  the  most  moral  races  of  men  that  the  world 
has  yet  seen  —  of  the  soundest  laws,  the  least 
violent  passions,  and  the  fairest  domestic  and 

*•  Ger-nian  means  fyhting  man.  His  is  that  old,  tough,  inde 
pendent,  indomitable  race,  admired  by  Tacitus,  which  subdued  the 
Roman  world. 


MODERN    SOCIETY.  487 

civil  virtues.  I  thought  of  that  memorable  de 
feat  of  Varus  and  his  three  legions,  which  forever 
confined  the  Romans  to  the  western  side  of  the 
Rhine,  and  preserved  the  Teutonic  nation,  the 
regenerating  element  in  modern  Europe,  safe  and 
free."  * 

"  Our  English  race,"  says  the  same  acute  and 
philosophical  thinker,  in  his  Lectures  on  Modern 
History,  developing  the  great  fact  to  which  we 
have  referred,  "  is  the  German  race.  And  that 
this  element  is  an  important  one,  cannot  be 
doubted  for  an  instant.  Our  English  race  is  the 
German  race ;  for  though  our  Norman  fathers 
had  learned  to  speak  a  stranger's  language,  yet 
in  blood,  as  we  know,  they  were  the  Saxons' 
brethren ;  both  alike  belong  to  the  Teutonic  or 
German  stock.  Now,  the  importance  of  this  stock 
is  plain  from  this,  that  its  intermixture  with  the 
Keltic  and  Roman  races  at  the  fall  of  the  Western 
empire,  has  changed  the  whole  face  of  Europe. 
It  is  doubly  remarkable,  because  the  other  ele 
ments  of  modern  history  are  derived  from  the 
ancient  world.  If  we  consider  the  Roman  em 
pire  in  the  fourth  century  of  the  Christian  era, 
we  shall  find  in  it  Christianity,  we  shall  find  in 
it  all  the  intellectual  treasures  of  Greece,  all  the 
social  and  political  wisdom  of  Rome.  What  was 

*  Life  and  Correspondence,  App.  No.  iii.  1.  Quoted  in  his  Lec 
tures,  p.  59. 


488  ClIHIST    IN    UISTORY. 

not  there,  was  simply  the  German  race,  and  the 
peculiar  qualities  which  characterize  it.  This  one 
addition  was  of  such  power  that  it  changed  the 
character  of  the  whole  mass  ;  the  peculiar  stamp 
of  the  middle  ages  is  undoubtedly  German ;  the 
change  manifested  in  the  last  three  centuries  has 
been  owing  to  the  revival  of  the  older  elements 
with  greater  power,  so  that  the  German  element 
has  been  less  manifestly  predominant.  But  the 
element  still  preserves  its  force,  for  good  or  for 
evil,  in  almost  every  country  of  the  civilized 
world." 

This  German  or  Saxon  element  is  becoming 
more  and  more  prominent  and  decisive  in  its  in 
fluence  upon  society.  It  has  embodied  itself  in 
books,  laws,  and  institutions.  It  is  increasingly 
active,  aggressive,  and  diffusive.  It  animates 
especially  the  free  enterprising  portions  of  Chris 
tendom.  In  a  word,  it  has  been  enthroned  by 
Christianity,  as  a  central  and  pervading  power. 
Emancipated  by  the  Reformation,  it  has  founded 
institutions  and  empires.  It  has  given  to  man 
kind  freedom  and  hope.  From  its  favorite  centres 
between  the  great  oceans  and  continents  of  the 
east  and  west,  it  is  spreading  civilization,  com 
merce,  and  Christianity,  over  the  world. 

We  shall  here,  however,  be  asked,  whether  the 
race  in  Germany,  especially  in  the  north  of  Ger 
many,  has  not  forsaken  Christianity  for  infidelity. 


MODERN    SOCIETY.  489 

We  reply  most  decisively,  No !  A  confused, 
transitional  state  has  occurred  there,  and  some 
vague,  speculative  infidelity  has  been  evolved  ; 
but  it  is  temporary.  The  heart  of  Germany  is 
sound,  and  will  yet  be  given  to  Christ,  with  the 
full  fervor  of  its  strength.  The  learned  men  of 
Germany,  the  theologians  and  the  philosophers, 
are  corning  rapidly  to  the  acknowledgment  of 
the  supernatural  character  and  claims  of  Chris 
tianity,  as  the  religion  of  God.  Strauss  is  already 
effete.  The  essence  of  faith  is  all  but  universally 
acknowledged,  and  the  rest,  we  doubt  not,  will 
come  in  due  time.  "  I  say  with  Meier,"  says 
Bunsen,  "  and  with  almost  all  German  writers 
of  note,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost  is  the  fundamental  doctrine  of 
Christianity,  and  that  without  it,  Christianity,  as 
a  theological  and  philosophical  system,  cannot 
rank  much  above  Rabbinism  and  Mohammed 
anism."  3  Spiritual  religion,  too,  is  advancing 
among  students  and  thinkers.  The  common 
people  are  joyfully  receiving  the  gospel  from  the 
lips  of  Oncken  and  others.  A  new  reformation, 
like  that  of  Luther,  seems  on  the  eve  of  being 
inaugurated  among  the  whole  German  people. 

But  it  is  in  England  and  North  America  we 
see  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  its  glory  and  strength, 
rejoicing  in  the  truth,  and  giving  the  gospel  to 

*  Hippolytus,  vol.  i.  p.  303. 


490  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

mankind.  Unconquerable,  (for  the  old  Teutonic 
or  German  stock,  neither  in  its  native  haunts  be 
yond  the  Rhine,  nor  in  any  other  part  of  the 
globe,  into  which  it  has  emigrated,  has  ever  been 
subdued  by  a  foreign  power,)  persevering,  self- 
reliant  ;  self-sacrificing,  if  need  be  ;  loving  free 
dom,  and  contending  for  it  as  the  heritage  of  all ; 
enlightened  and  enterprising,  covering  all  lands 
and  all  seas  with  its  science  and  commerce ; 
venerating  the  Bible,  which  it  has  translated  into 
more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty  languages,  or 
nearly  all  that  are  spoken  on  the  earth  ;  clinging 
to  Christianity,  as  the  support  of  the  soul,  and 
the  hope  of  the  world  ;  and  disposed,  by  means 
of  her  missionary  army,  to  preach  it  to  every 
creature  under  heaven,  —  we  may  well  recognize 
the  Saxon  race  as  the  central  and  chosen  people, 
through  whom  Christ  shall  win  the  empire  of 
mankind. 

We  will  not,  however,  confine  ourselves  to  any 
narrow  or  local  view  of  this  great  subject.  God 
has  his  chosen  ones  in  all  places,  centres  of  influ 
ence  and  means  of  blessing,  in  all  lands,  and 
among  all  races.  Christ  is  every  where.  His  foot 
steps  are  seen  in  Burmah  and  China,  as  well  as 
in  Germany  and  England.  He  is  walking  among 
the  churches  of  the  Armenians  and  the  Nestorians, 
of  the  Sandwich  and  Polynesian  Isles.  Far  away 
in  the  depths  of  Africa,  and  on  the  bleak  shores 


MODERN    SOCIETY.  491 

of  Greenland,  on  the  plains  of  Australia,  and 
amid  the  golden  fields  of  the  Pacific  slope,  his 
benign  presence  is  felt  and  seen. 

It  has  been  intimated  that,  in  the  present  day, 
and  especially  in  Christendom,  the  tendency  of 
all  things  is  to  unity  and  universality,  and  that 
it  is  by  their  tendency  we  can  predict  their  issue. 
We  are  encouraged  to  do  this,  especially  when 
we  find  the  various  forces  actually  moving  and 
converging  to  a  common  result.  Now,  every  one 
will  allow  that  such  is  the  direction  of  Christi 
anity.  It  is  a  universal  religion,  being  adapted 
to  man  as  man,  and  therefore  its  resistless  aim  is 
to  spread  over  the  world,  and  bring  the  whole 
into  spiritual  unity.  In  the  same  line,  and  ap 
parently  under  the  same  influence,  like  scattered 
streams  flowing  into  one  vale,  and  so  forming 
one  river,  we  see  the  other  forces  of  society  con 
verging  to  a  common  issue.  Thus  commerce  is 
overleaping  all  its  ancient  barriers,  spreading 
over  all  seas  and  lands,  and  bringing  the  na 
tions  into  commercial  brotherhood.  They  are 
finding  out,  in  spite  of  themselves,  that  the  in 
terest  of  one  is  the  interest  of  all.  Thus,  while 
commerce  diffuses  and  distributes  its  energies,  it 
also  unites  them  in  a  common  system.  While 
it  spreads  to  the  circumference,  it  attracts  to  the 
centre.  It  links  land  to  land,  and  sea  to  sea;  it 
gathers  community  to  community,  and  tribe  to 


492  CHRIST   IN    HISTORY. 

tribe  ;  it  calls  to  the  remotest  races,  and  invites 
them  to  unity  of  interest  and  aim.  It  diminishes 
the  fierceness  and  frequency  of  war,  gives  facili 
ties  for  the  spread  of  common  blessings,  Christi 
anity  among  the  rest,  and  thus  makes  it  the  in 
terest  of  one  and  all  to  live  in  harmony  and 
peace. 

The  same  tendency  may  be  seen  in  science. 
All  the  particular  branches  of  science  have  a 
common  tie,  and  are  found  to  belong  to  one  great 
system.  They  have  a  tendency,  therefore,  among 
all  who  cultivate  them,  though  far  separated 
from  each  other  by  land  or  ocean,  to  produce 
common  ideas.  They  unite  rival  nations  by  the 
ties  of  thought  and  interchange  of  discoveries. 
In  this  way  the  science  of  one,  in  process  of  time, 
becomes  the  science  of  all.  Bigotries  and  super 
stitions  give  way  under  the  gracious  influence 
of  extending  knowledge,  while  an  open  field  is 
cleared  for  the  conquests  of  the  cross. 

Such  is  the  tendency  also  of  modern  speculative 
philosophy.  It  seeks  unity  and  order,  and  con 
sequent  universality.  It  recognizes,  sometimes 
produces,  a  common  type  of  thought,  and  not 
only  this,  but  a  common  type  of  humanity. 
Moreover  its  singular  vacillations  and  contradic 
tions  find  their  centre  in  Christ,  as  the  manifes 
tation  of  the  true  God  and  eternal  life.  Thus, 
in  the  present  clay,  philosophy  is  eminently 


MODERN    SOCIETY.  493 

eclectic  and  free.  It  belongs  to  no  class  perma 
nently,  and  in  its  higher  spiritual  relations  aims 
to  recognize  a  common  Christianity,  producing 
thereby  a  common  life  and  destiny.  It  has  not 
reached  this  as  yet,  but  such  is  its  tendency. 

The  tendency  even  of  politics,  in  all  the  en 
lightened  nations,  flows  in  the  same  direction. 
Gervinus,  in  his  Introduction  to  the  History  of 
Modern  Europe,  has,  by  a  laborious  analysis, 
demonstrated  this  great  fact.  Through  many 
changes  and  struggles,  an  advance  towards 
equal,  and  consequently  universal  rights  is  visi 
ble.  How  strikingly  and  beautifully  is  this  de 
veloped  on  the  North  American  continents !  The 
longing  and  the  struggle  for  these  rights  is  visible 
enough  in  other  lands.  The  end  is  universal  lib 
erty,  a  recognition  of  the  rights  of  God  and  the 
rights  of  man  —  what  the  socialists  dream  after, 
but  for  the  want  of  solid  Christian  principle,  and 
the  sure  light  of  eternal  truth,  they  cannot  real 
ize,  equality,  freedom,  fraternity,  that  is,  order, 
unity,  universality,  under  Christ  and  Christianity. 

Thus,  too,  language,  the  great  civilizer,  with 
all  the  elements  of  social  life,  is  tending  to  unity 
and  universality.  How  the  Saxon  tongue  and 
Saxon  literature,  for  example,  are  spreading  over 
the  whole  western  hemisphere,  and  bringing  dif 
ferent  peoples  into  unity  and  repose  !  See,  too, 
how  in  the  other  hemispheres  it  penetrates  vari- 
42 


494  CHRIST   IN   HISTORY. 

ous  lands,  pagan  and  Mohammedan.  Such, 
also,  is  the  tendency  of  the  French  and  the 
German  tongues,  and  with  them,  of  course,  their 
knowledge  and  power.  All  seek  unity  and  uni 
versality.  The  German  especially  is  beginning 
to  assert  its  rights  ;  it  is  spreading  fast  and  far. 
A  new  reformation  in  the  fatherland  will  send 
it,  by  the  mouth  of  missionaries  and  preachers, 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

But  it  is  the  Bible  and  Christianity  which  are 
exerting  the  greatest  influence,  through  various 
languages,  in  producing  the  sublime  result  of 
which  we  speak.  Distant  and  dissimilar  com 
munities  are  thus  calling  to  each  other  —  China 
to  Europe  and  Europe  to  China ;  Burmah  to 
America  and  America  to  Burmah,  in  the  com 
mon  speech  of  Christianity.  The  prodigious 
influence  of  this  peculiar  force  can  scarcely  be 
realized.  Much  of  it  is  so  delicate,  and  so  far 
removed  from  the  domain  of  the  senses,  that  it 
will  only  be  recognized,  when  it  has  produced 
some  stupendous  result. 

We  are  not,  indeed,  blind  to  adverse  influences 
even  in  the  bosom  of  Christendom.  But  we 
are  not  speaking  now  so  much  of  Christendom, 
defective,  and  far  behind  its  ideal,  as  of  Christian 
ity  itself,  a  force  amid  the  forces  of  society,  all 
of  which  are  rapidly  converging  to  unity,  and 
consequent  universality. 


MODERN    SOCIETY.  495 

Christianity,  in  its  present  form  of  embodi 
ment  in  the  world,  is  only  partially  developed. 
It  is  still  checked  and  hindered  by  many  ob 
stacles.  But  its  real  resources  are  boundless, 
and  will  yet  be  discovered  on  a  scale  of  gran 
deur  which  will  astonish  the  world.  Like  Christ, 
Christianity  is  immutable  and  immortal,  and 
must  prevail.  Changes  may  come,  dynasties 
may  rise  and  fall,  revolution,  as  of  old,  may  fol 
low  revolution  ;  but  the  gospel  will  survive  as  a 
supernatural,  self-existent  mystery.  Opinions, 
too,  may  fluctuate,  and  many  conflicting  theories 
be  propounded  among  men,  but  Christ,  as  a 
Life,  divine  and  indestructible,  will  remain  the 
same.  In  all  ages  his  empire  of  love  is  one. 
It  can  no  more  be  destroyed  than  God  himself 
can  be  destroyed  ;  for  it  is  the  embodied  Divin 
ity.  The  true  church,  then,  or  that  which  forms 
the  essence  of  the  true  church,  is  but  his  heart 
of  love  beating  among  men.  It  already  counts 
its  subjects  by  millions,  millions  who  would  die 
for  their  Lord  and  King.  It  is  secretly  spread 
ing  among  the  nations.  It  is  "  gathering  "  men 
of  all  times  and  of  all  lands  to  the  cross.  And, 
as  good  must  finally  overcome  evil,  Christianity, 
like  an  atmosphere  of  light,  radiant  and  peace 
ful,  shall  envelop  the  globe. 


APPENDIX. 


42* 


(VJ7) 


APPENDIX. 

ADDITIONAL    NOTES  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


NOTE  A.  — PAGAN  RELIGION. 

THE  following  estimate,  though  partial  and  one  sided,  of 
the  moral  value  of  the  religions  of  the  ancient  heathen  world, 
coming  from  one  of  the  profoundest  scholars  of  the  age,  de 
serves  consideration.  "  All  the  moral  theories  of  [pagan] 
antiquity  were  utterly  disjoined  from  religion.  The  suppo 
sition  that  the  ancient  pagan  systems  of  religion  were  intro 
ductory  to  some  scheme  of  morals,  is  an  anachronism.  It  is 
the  anachronism  of  unconsciously  reflecting  back  upon  the  an 
cient  religions  of  darkness,  and  as  if  essential  to  all  religions, 
features  that  never  were  suspected  as  possible,  until  they 
had  been  revealed  by  Christianity,  [including  Judaism.] 
Religion,  in  the  eye  of  a  pagan,  had  no  more  relation  to 
morals  than  it  had  to  ship  building  or  trigonometry.  But, 
then,  why  was  religion  honored  among  pagans  ?  How  did  it 
ever  arise?  What  was  its  object  ?  Object !  it  had  no  object, 
if  by  this  you  mean  ulterior  object.  Pagan  religion  arose  in 
no  motive,  but  in  an  impulse.  Pagan  religion  aimed  at  no  dis 
tant  prize  ahead ;  it  fled  from  a  danger  immediately  behind. 
The  gods  of  the  pagans  were  Avicked  natures  ;  but  they  were 
natures  to  be  feared  and  to  be  propitiated  ;  for  they  were  fierce, 

(499) 


500  •   CHRIST  IN   HISTORY. 

and  they  were  moody,  and  (as  regarded  men,  who  had  no 
wings)  they  were  powerful.  Once  accredited  as  facts,  the  pa 
gan  gods  could  not  be  regarded  as  otherwise  than  terrific  facts ; 
and  thus  it  was,  that  in  terror,  blind  terror,  as  against  power 
in  the  hands  of  divine  wickedness,  arose  the  ancient  religions 
of  paganism.  Because  the  gods  were  wicked,  man  was 
religious;  because  Olympus  was  cruel,  earth  trembled; 
because  the  divine  beings  were  the  most  lawless  of  Thugs, 
the  human  being  became  the  most  abject  of  sycophants. 

"  Kad  the  religions  ,  of  paganism  arisen  teleologically ; 
that  is,  with  a  view  to  certain  purposes,  to  certain  final 
causes  ahead ;  had  they  grown  out  of  forward  looking  views, 
contemplating,  for  example,  the  furthering  of  civilization,  or 
contemplating  some  interest,  in  a  world  beyond  the  present, 
there  would  probably  have  arisen,  concurrently,  a  section  on 
all  such  religions  devoted  to  positive  instruction.  There 
would  have  been  a  doctrinal  part.  There  might  have  been 
interwoven  Avith  the  ritual  of  worship,  a  system  of  economies 
or  a  code  of  civil  prudence,  or  a  code  of  health,  or  even  a 
secret  revelation  of  mysterious  relations  between  man  and 
the  Deity ;  all  which  existed  in  Judaism.  But  as  the  case 
stood,  this  was  impossible.  The  gods  were  mere  odious 
facts,  like  scorpions  or  rattlesnakes,  having  no  moral  aspects 
whatever  ;  public  nuisances  ;  and  bearing  no  relation  to  man 
but  that  of  capricious  tyrants.  First  arriving  upon  a  basis  of 
terror,  these  gods  never  subsequently  enlarged  that  basis ; 
nor  sought  to  enlarge  it.  All  antiquity  contains  not  a  hint 
of  the  possibility  that  love  could  arise,  as  by  any  ray  mingling 
with  the  sentiments  in  a  human  creature  towards  a  divine 
one.  Not  even  sycophants  pretended  to  love  the  gods. 

"  Under  this  original  peculiarity  of  paganism,  there  arose 
two  consequences,  which  I  will  mark  by  the  Greek  letters  a 
and  (I.  The  latter  I  will  notice  in  its  order,  first  calling  the 
reader's  attention  to  the  consequence  marked  «,  which  is 
this  :  In  the  full  and  profoundest  sense  of  the  word  believe, 


501 


the  pagans  could  not  be  said  to  believe  in  any  gods  ;  but  in 
the  ordinary  sense,  they  did,  and  do,  and  must  believe  in  all 
gods.  As  this  proposition  will  startle  some  readers,  and  is 
yet  closely  involved  in  the  main  truth  which  I  am  now 
pressing,  viz.,  the  meaning  and  effect  of  a  simple  cultus,  as 
distinguished  from  a  high  doctrinal  religion,  let  us  seek  an 
illustration  from  our  Indian  empire.  The  Christian  mission 
aries  from  home,  Avhen  first  opening  their  views  to  Hindoos, 
describe  themselves  as  laboring  to  prove  that  Christianity  is 
a  true  religion,  and  as  either  asserting,  or  leaving  it  to  be 
inferred,  that,  on  that  assumption,  the  Indian  religion  is  a 
false  one.  But  the  poor  Hindoo  never  dreamed  of  doubting 
that  the  Christian  was  a  true  religion  ;  nor  will  he  at  all 
infer,  from  your  religion  being  true,  that  his  own  must  be 
false.  Both  are  true,  he  thinks  :  all  religions  are  true  ;  and  all 
gods  are  true  gods  ;  and  all  are  equally  true.  Neither  can  he 
understand  what  you  mean  by  a  false  religion,  or  how  a  reli 
gion  could  be  false  ;  and  he  is  perfectly  right.  Wherever  re 
ligions  consist  only  of  a  worship,  as  the  Hindoo  religion  does, 
there  can  be  no  competition  amongst  them  as  to  truth.  That 
would  be  an  absurdity,  not  less  nor  other  than  for  a  Prussian  to 
denounce  the  Austrian  emperor,  or  an  Austrian  to  denounce 
the  Prussian  king,  as  a  false  sovereign.  False  ?  How  false  ? 
In  what  sense  false  ?  Surely  not  as  non-existing.  But  at 
least,  (the  reader  will  reply,)  if  the  religions  contradict  each 
other,  one  of  them  must  be  false.  Yes,  but  that  is  impossible. 
Two  religions  cannot  contradict  each  other,  where  both 
contain  only  a  cultus  ;  they  could  come  into  collision  only  by 
means  of  a  doctrinal  or  directly  affirmative  part,  like  those  of 
Christianity  and  Mohammedanism.  But  this  part  is  what  no 
idolatrous  religion  ever  had,  or  will  have.  The  reader  must 
not  understand  me  to  mean  that,  merely  as  a  compromise  of 
courtesy,  two  professors  of  different  idolatries  would  agree 
to  recognize  each  other.  Not  at  all.  The  truth  of  one  does 
not  imply  the  falsehood  of  the  other.  Both  are  true  as  fads: 


502  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

neither  can  be  false,  in  any  higher  sense,  because  neither 
makes  any  pretence  to  truth  doctrinal. 

"This  distinction  between  a  religion  having  merely  a 
worship,  and  a  religion  having  also  a  body  of  doctrinal 
truth,  is  familiar  to  the  Mohammedans  ;  and  they  convey  the 
distinction  by  a  very  appropriate  expression.  Those  majestic 
religions,  (as  they  esteem  them,)  which  rise  above  the  mere 
pomps  and  tympanies  of  ceremonial  worship,  they  demon 
strate  *  religions  of  the  book.'  There  are  of  such  religions 
three,  viz.,  Judaism,  Christianity,  and  Islamism.  The  first 
builds  upon  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  or  perhaps  sufficiently 
upon  the  Pentateuch  ;  the  second  upon  the  Gospel ;  the  last 
upon  the  Koran.  No  other  religion  can  be  said  to  rest  upon 
a  book,  or  even  to  admit  of  a  book.  For  we  must  not  be 
duped  by  the  case  where  a  lawgiver  attempts  to  connect  his 
own  human  institutes  with  the  venerable  sanctions  of  a  na 
tional  religion,  or  the  case  where  a  learned  antiquary  unfolds 
historically  the  record  of  a  vast  mythology.  Heaps  of  such 
cases  (both  law  and  mythological  records)  survive  in  the 
Sanscrit,  and  in  the  pagan  languages.  But  these  are  books 
which  build  upon  the  religion,  not  books  upon  which  the 
religion  is  built.  If  a  religion  consists  only  of  a  ceremonial 
worship,  in  that  case  there  can  be  no  opening  for  a  book ; 
because  the  forms  and  details  publish  themselves  daily,  in 
the  celebration  of  the  worship,  and  are  preserved,  from  age 
to  age,  without  dependence  on  a  book.  But,  if  a  religion 
has  a  doctrine,  this  implies  a  revelation  or  message  from 
Heaven,  which  cannot,  in  any  other  way,  secure  the  transmis 
sion  of  the  message  to  future  generations,  than  by  causing  it 
to  be  registered  in  a  book.  A  book,  therefore,  will  be  con 
vertible  with  a  doctrinal  religion:  no  book,  no  doctrine; 
and  again,  no  doctrine,  no  book. 

"  Upon  these  principles  we  may  understand  the  second 
consequence,  (marked  ^,)  which  has  perplexed  many  men, 
viz.,  why  it  is,  that  the  Hindoos,  in  our  own  times,  but 


APPENDIX.  503 

equally,  why  it  is  that  the  Greek  and  Roman  idolaters  of  an 
tiquity,  never  proselytized ;  no,  nor  could  have  viewed  such 
an  attempt  as  rational.  Naturally,  if  a  religion  is  doctrinal, 
any  truth  which  it  possesses,  as  a  secret  deposit  consigned  to 
its  keeping  by  a  revelation,  must  be  equally  valid  for  one 
man  as  for  another,  without  regard  to  race  or  nation.  For  a 
doctrinal  religion  therefore  to  proselytize,  is  no  more  than  a 
duty  of  consistent  humanity.  You,  the  professors  of  that 
religion,  possess  the  medicinal  fountains.  You  will  not 
diminish  your  own  share  by  imparting  it  to  others.  What 
churlishness,  if  you  should  grudge  to  others  a  health  which 
does  not  interfere  with  your  own!  Christians,  therefore, 
Mohammedans,  and  Jews  originally,  in  proportion  as  they  were 
sincere  and  conscientious,  have  always  invited  or  even  forced, 
the  unbelieving  to  their  own  faith :  nothing  but  accidents  of 
situations,  local  or  political,  have  disturbed  this  effort.  But  on 
the  other  hand,  for  a  mere  '  cultus  '  to  attempt  conversions,  is 
nonsense.  An  ancient  Roman  could  have  had  no  motive  for 
bringing  you  over  to  the  worship  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus  ;  nor 
you  any  motive  for  going.  '  Surely,  poor  man,'  he  would 
have  said,  '  you  have  some  god  of  your  own,  who  will  be 
quite  as  good  for  your  countrymen  as  Jupiter  for  mine.  But 
if  you  have  not,  really  I  am  sorry  for  your  case  ;  and  a  very 
odd  case  it  is ;  but  I  don't  see  how  it  could  be  improved  by 
talking  nonsense.  You  cannot  beneficially,  you  cannot  ra 
tionally,  worship  a  tutelary  Roman  deity,  unless  in  the 
character  of  a  Roman ;  and  a  Roman  you  may  become, 
legally  and  politically.  Being  such,  you  will  participate  in 
all  advantages,  if  any  there  are,  of  our  national  religion ;  and 
without  needing  a  process  of  conversion,  either  in  substance 
or  in  form.  Ipso  facto,  and  without  any  separate  choice  of 
your  own,  or  becoming  a  Roman  citizen,  yon  become  a  party 
to  the  Roman  worship.'  For  an  idolatrous  religion  to  prose 
lytize,  would  be  not  only  useless,  but  unintelligible.'  —  De 
Quincey. 


504  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

There  is  much  of  truth  in  all  this  ;  although  De  Quincey 
has  not  made  sufficient  allowance  for  the  universal  prev 
alence  in  man  of  the  religious  element,  which,  in  favorable 
circumstances,  infuses  even  into  false  religions  a  certain 
amount  of  moral  and  political  influence.  This,  and  not  fear 
alone,  is  their  true  origin.  Indeed  fear  is  the  natural 
exaggeration  of  the  religious  element,  in  circumstances 
of  profound  or  general  ignorance.  The  religious  instinct 
must  satisfy  itself  somehow,  even  if  it  originate  gods  "  whom 
guilt  makes  welcome."  It  is  true,  however,  that  the 
ancient  pagan  nations,  even  the  most  enlightened  and  pol 
ished,  for  example  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans,  might  be 
described  as  "without  God  and  without  hope  in  the  world." 
Notwithstanding  the  traditional  fragments  of  a  better  faith, 
and  the  lofty  imaginings  of  their  philosophers,  their  public 
culius  was  a  gross,  often  an  immoral  nature  worship.  It  was 
sustained  by  no  body  of  living  truth,  and  exerted  upon  the 
community  at  large  no  transforming  moral  influence.  Indeed, 
those  who  were  virtuous  were  often  virtuous  in  spite  of  their 
religion.  The  chaste  Lucretia,  as  Rousseau  remarks,  adored 
the  unchaste  Venus.  The  popular  Jupiter  was  a  licentious 
bandit,  who,  in  modern  times,  would  have  deserved  a  place  in 
the  jail  or  penitentiary.  And  yet  who  can  fail  to  see,  through 
the  whole,  the  strugglings  of  the  great  human  heart,  made 
for  God,  for  duty  and  immortality,  the  dim  sense  of  the  infi 
nite,  the  consciousness  of  guilt,  and  the  longing  for  redemp 
tion  ?  The  ancient  religions,  especially  the  elder,  are  not 
absolute  untruths  ;  they  are  only  perversions  and  corruptions 
of  that  which  is  highest  in  man. 

NOTE    B.  —  ORIGINAL    SIN    UNIVERSALLY    AC 
KNOWLEDGED. 

SPEAKING  of  "original  sin,"  which  Coleridge  designates 
"self-originating  sin,"  that  distinguished  thinker  remarks, 


APPENDIX.  505 

"  that  it  is  no  tenet  first  introduced  or  imposed  by  Christian 
ity,  and  which,  should  a  man  see  fit  to  disclaim  the  authority 
of  the  gospel,  would  no  longer  have  any  claim  on  his  atten 
tion.  It  is  no  perplexity  that  a  man  may  get  rid  of,  by  ceasing 
to  be  a  Christian,  and  which  has  no  existence  for  a  philosophic 
Deist.  It  is  a  fact,  affirmed  indeed  in  the  Christian  Scriptures 
alone,  with  the  force  and  frequency  proportioned  to  its  con 
summate  importance  ;  but  a  fact  acknowledged  in  every  re 
ligion  that  retains  the  least  glimmering  of  the  patriarchal 
faith  in  a  God  infinite,  and  yet  personal ;  a  fact  assumed  or 
implied  as  the  basis  of  every  religion  of  which  any  relics 
remain  of  earlier  date  than  the  last  and  total  apostasy  of  the 
pagan  world,  when  the  faith  of  the  great  I  AM,  the  Creator, 
was  extinguished  in  the  sensual  Polytheism,  which  is  inevi 
tably  the  final  result  of  Pantheism,  or  the  worship  of  nature ; 
and  the  only  form  under  which  the  Pantheistic  scheme  — 
that  according  to  which  the  world  is  God,  and  the  material 
universe  itself  the  only  Absolute  Being  —  can  exist  for  a 
people,  or  become  the  popular  creed.  Thus,  in  the  most 
ancient  books  of  the  Brahmins,  the  deep  sense  of  this  fact, 
and  the  doctrine  grounded  upon  obscure  traditions  of  the 
promised  remedy,  are  seen  struggling,  and  now  gleaming, 
now  flashing,  through  the  mist  of  Pantheism,  and  producing 
the  incongruities  and  gross  contradictions  of  the  Brahmin 
mythology  ;  while,  in  the  rival  sect  —  in  that  most  strange 
phenomenon,  the  religious  atheism  of  the  Buddhists,  with 
whom  God  is  only  universal  matter,  considered  abstractedly 
from  all  particular  forms  —  the  fact  is  placed  among  the 
delusions  natural  to  man,  which,  with  other  superstitions, 
grounded  on  a  supposed  essential  difference  between  right 
and  wrong,  the  sage  is  to  decompose  or  precipitate  from  tho 
menstruum  of  his  more  refined  apprehensions !  Thus,  in  de 
nying  the  fact,  they  virtually  acknowledge  it. 

"From  the  remote  East,  turn  to  the  mythology  of  tho  Lesser 
Asia,  to  the  descendants  of  Javan,  who  dwelt  in  tlic  tents 
43 


506  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

of  Shem,  and  possessed  the  isles.  Here  again,  and  in  the 
usual  form  of  an  historic  solution,  we  find  the  same  fact,  and 
as  characteristic  of  the  human  race,  stated  in  that  earliest 
and  most  venerable  mythus  or  symbolic  parable  of  Prome 
theus  —  that  truly  wonderful  fable,  in  which  the  characters 
of  the  rebellious  spirit,  and  of  the  divine  Friend  of  mankind, 
(9eb$  <^il6ivdqu7iog^  are  united  in  the  same  person ;  thus,  in 
the  most  striking  manner,  noting  the  forced  amalgamation 
of  the  patriarchal  tradition  with  the  incongruous  scheme  of 
Pantheism.  This  and  the  connected  tale  of  lo,  which  is 
but  the  sequel  of  the  Prometheus,  stand  alone  in  the  Greek 
mythology,  in  which  elsewhere  both  gods  and  men  are  mere 
powers  and  products  of  nature.  And  most  noticeable  it  is, 
that  soon  after  the  promulgation  and  spread  of  the  gospel 
had  awakened  the  moral  sense,  and  had  opened  the  eyes 
even  of  its  wiser  enemies  to  the  necessity  of  providing  some 
solution  of  this  great  problem  of  the  moral  world,  the  beau 
tiful  parable  of  Cupid  and  Psyche,  was  brought  forward  as 
a  rival  of  the  fall  of  man ;  and  the  fact  of  a  moral  corrup 
tion  connatural  with  the  human  race  was  again  recognized. 
In  the  assertion  of  original  sin,  the  Greek  mythology  rose 
and  set 

"  But  not  only  was  the  fact  acknowledged  of  a  law  in  the 
nature  of  man  resisting  the  law  of  God,  (and  whatever  is 
placed  in  active  and  direct  oppugnancy  to  the  good  is,  ipso 
facto,  positive  evil,)  it  was  likewise  an  acknowledged  mys 
tery,  and  one  which,  by  the  nature  of  the  subject,  must  ever 
remain  such  —  a  problem  of  which  any  other  solution  than 
the  statement  of  the  fact  itself  was  demonstrably  impossible. 
That  it  is  so,  the  least  reflection  will  suffice  to  convince 
every  man,  who  has  previously  satisfied  himself  that  he  is  a 
responsible  being.  It  follows,  necessarily,  from  the  postulate 
of  a  responsible  will."  —  Jlids  to  Re/lection. 


APPENDIX.  507 


NOTE   C.  —  INFLUENCE   OF   JUDAISM. 

THE  following  passage,  from  A.  Coqucrel's  Christianisme, 
will  throw  light  on  the  relations  of  the  Jews  to  the  neigh 
boring  nations,  and  especially  their  influence  upon  the  Ori 
ental  Magi. 

"  There  are  innumerable  texts  in  the  sacred  writings  of 
both  covenants,  which  express  the  idea  of  the  mission  or 
privilege  of  the  Jews,  and  of  their  title  of  people  of  God. 
This  mission  may  be  summed  up  in  four  distinct,  but  closely 
united  points  :  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  ;  the  promise 
of  the  Savior ;  the  drawing  up  and  preservation  of  the  Old 
Testament ;  and  lastly,  the  accomplishment  of  the  redemption 
in  the  very  bosom  of  their  nation. 

"  '  Abraham  was  called.'  Gen.  xii.  1.  'By  faith  Abraham, 
when  he  was  called  to  go  out  into  a  place  which  he  should 
after  receive  for  an  inheritance,  obeyed ;  and  he  went  out, 
not  knowing  whither  he  went.'  Heb.  xi.  8.  On  all  the  ' 
great  occasions  of  his  life,  it  was  said  of  him.  'In  thee  shall 
all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed.'  Gen.  xii.  3  ;  xviiL 
18 ;  xxii.  18 ;  xxvi.  4.  '  And  he  [Abraham]  believed  in 
the  Lord,  and  it  was  accounted  to  him  for  righteousness ; ' 
that  is,  Abraham,  with  confidence,  accepted  his  great  destiny, 
and  devoted  himself  to  his  holy  task,  (xv.  6 ;)  thus  he  became 
the  father  of  all  them  that  believed,  (Rom.  iv.  11 ;)  that  is, 
the  first  head  of  particularism,  the  first  head  or  guardian  of 
religious  truth.  '  For  I.  know  him,  [said  the  Lord,]  that  he 
will  command  his  children  and  his  household  after  him,  and 
they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  to  do  justice  and  judg 
ment  ;  that  the  Lord  may  bring  upon  Abraham  that  which 
he  hath  spoken  of  him.'  Gen.  xviii.  19.  *  Now,  therefore,' 
it  is  said  to  the  contemporaries  of  Moses,  '  if  ye  will  obey  my 
voice  indeed,  arid  keep  my  covenant,  then  shall  ye  be  a  pecu 
liar  treasure  unto  me  above  all  people.'  Exod.  xix.  5.  ... 


508  CHRIST    IN    HISTOKY. 

'  That  thou  mayst  be  a  holy  people  unto  the  Lord  thy  God, 
as  he  hath  spoken.'  Dent.  xxvi.  19.  *  For  the  Lord  will  no\ 
forsake  his  people  for  his  great  name's  sake  ;  because  it  hath 
pleased  the  Lord  to  make  you  his  people.'  1  Sam.  xii.  22. 
'He  hath  not  dealt  so  with  any  nation  ;  and  as  for  his  judg 
ments,  they  have  not  known  them.'  Ps.  cxlvii. 

"  *  Unto  you  first,'  said  St.  Peter  to  the  Jews,  '  God  having 
raised  up  his  Son  Jesus,  sent  him.'  Acts  xii.  2G.  '  Who 
are  Israelites,  to  whom  pertaineth  the  adoption,  and  the 
glory,  (Ex.  xi.  34,  35  ;  1  Sam.  iv.  22 ;  2  Chron.  vii.  1,  2,}  and 
the  covenants,  and  the  giving  of  the  law,  and  the  service  of 
God,  and  the  promises  ;  whose  are  the  fathers,  and  of  whom, 
as  concerning  the  flesh,  Christ  came.'  Rom.  ix.  4,  5.  '  Now 
I  say  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a  minister  of  the  circumcision  for 
the  truth  of  God,  to  confirm  the-  promises  made  unto  the 
fathers.'  xv.  8. 

"  This  divine  commission,  given  to  Israel,  constituted  par 
ticularism,  and  made  the  Jewish  religion  a  national  religion. 

"  Yet  Providence  prepared  afar  off  the  return  to  universal- 
isrn  ;  not  only  at  the  moment  of  the  captivity,  and  by  the  dis 
persion  of  the  Jews  over  Asia,  at  a  period  when  Greece  and 
Italy  were  comparatively  barbarous  ;  but  we  may  see  the 
light  of  universalism  faintly  dawning  in  some  degree,  even 
in  the  age  when  Solomon  erected  the  temple  of  a  unique  and 
local  worship,  in  the  prayer  of  dedication,  this  prince  says  : 
'  Moreover,  concerning  a  stranger  that  is  not  of  thy  people 
Israel,  but  cometh  out  of  a  far  country  for  thy  name's  sake ; 
.  .  .  when  he  shall  come  and  pray  toward  [in]  this  house, 
hear  thou  in  heaven  thy  dwelling-place,  and  do  according  to 
all  that  the  stranger  callcth  to  thec  for,  that  all  the  people 
of  the  earth  may  know  thy  name,  to  fear  thee.'  1  Kings 
viii.  41—13  ;  2  Chron.  vi.  32.  Isaiah  proclaims  their  rights,  and 
reasvsurcs  the  proselytes,  and  even  eunuchs,  (who,  in  whatever 
manner  they  had  become  so,  were  not  considered  as  Jewish 
citizens.)  Deut.  xxiii.  1.  'Neither  let  the  son  of  the  stran- 


APPENDIX.  509 

ger,  that  hath  joined  himself  to  the  Lord,  speak,  saying, 
The  Lord  hath  utterly  separated  me  from  his  people ;  neither 
let  the  eunuch  say,  Behold,  I  am  a  dry  tree,  (I  shall  be  cut 
off  as  a  barren  tree.)  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  :  Those  that 
choose  the  things  that  please  me,  and  take  hold  of  my 
covenant,  even  unto  them  will  I  give,  in  mine  house,  and 
within  my  Avails,  a  place.'  Isaiah  Ivi.  3,  4,  5.  Ezekiel, 
when  he  promises  to  the  Jews  a  new  division  of  the  Holy 
Land,  meaning  by  this  image  to  give  them  assurance  of  a 
restoration  after  the  captivity,  does  not  forget  the  strangers 
or  proselytes  who  were  soon  to  be  more  numerous  than  ever. 
1  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  ye  shall  divide  it  [the  coun 
try]  by  lot  for  an  inheritance  unto  you,  and  to  the  strangers 
that  sojourn  among  you,  which  shall  beget  children  among 
you ;  and  they  shall  be  unto  you  as  born  in  the  country 
among  the  children  of  Israel ;  they  shall  have  inheritance 
with  you  among  the  tribes  of  Israel.  And  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  that  in  what  tribe  the  stranger  sojourneth,  there  shall 
ye  give  him  his  inheritance,  saith  the  Lord  God.'  Ezck. 
xlvii.  22,  23. 

"  A  curious  passage  in  Isaiah,  the  complete  explanation 
of  which  would  require  a  separate  dissertation,  opened  to 
the  Mosiac  system  a  vast  perspective  of  extension.  '  In 
that  day,'  says  the  prophet,  '  shall  five  cities  [five  several, 
the  definite  for  the  indefinite  number]  in  the  land  of  Kpypt 
speak  the  language  of  Canaan,  [a  figurative  expression  — 
the  language  of  the  worship  of  the  true  God,]  and  swear  to 
[by]  the  Lord  of  hosts.  .  .  .  And  the  Lord  shall  be 
known  to  Egypt.  ...  In  that  day  shall  there  be  a  high 
way  out  of  Egypt  to  Assyria,  [there  shall  be  frequent  and 
intimate  communication,]  .  .  .  and  the  Egyptians  shall 
serve  the  Lord  with  the  Assyrians.  In  that  day  shall  Israel 
be  the  third  with  Egypt  and  Assyria.'  Isaiah  xix.  18-24. 
This  whole  passage,  extremely  poetic  in  style,  is  a  prophecy 
of  the  progress  which  should  be  made  by  the  Jewish  rcligior 
43* 


510  CHRIST   IN    HISTOIIY. 

under  the  Ptolemies,  during  which  period  there  were  a  mil 
lion  of  Jews  established  in  Egypt,  whose  teaching  and  ex- 
n  mple  must  have  greatly  diffused  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
God  and  of  revelation,  and  from  whom  even  the  nations  of 
the  interior  of  Asia  derived  benefit.  It  was  impossible  more 
effectually  to  undermine  particularism  than  by  placing  Israel 
as  the.  third  with  two  strange  nations  in  the  service  of  the 
true  God. 

"The  intention  of  Providence  of  gradually  preparing 
universalism  by  diffusing  among  strange  nations  some  hopes 
of  the  advent  of  a  Messiah,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  means 
employed  to  this  end,  find  a  striking  confirmation  in  the  nar 
rative  of  the  arrival  of  the  Magi  at  Jerusalem.  Of  these 
Magi,  tradition  has  made  kings  ;  the  first  interpreters  of 
Scripture  opened  the  way  to  these  errors,  by  interpreting 
literally  some  expressions  of  the  prophets  and  of  the  Psalms, 
and  resting  upon  the  ideas  of  the  Jews,  who  expected  a 
temporal  Messiah,  the  King  of  kings,  before  whom  all  men 
should  bow :  the  Psalmist,  in  describing  the  glory  of  Solomon, 
says,  'The  kings  of  Tarshish  and  of  the  isles  shall  bring 
presents ;  the  kings  of  Sheba  and  Seba  shall  offer  gifts.' 
Ps.  Ixxii.  10.  Isaiah,  in  one  of  his  Messianic  prophecies,  has 
said,  in  a  more  explicit  manner,  kings  shall  see  and  arise, 
princes  also  shall  worship.  Isaiah  xlix.  7.  These  passages 
probably  contain  the  origin  of  those  legends  of  tradition 
which  has  also  endeavored  to  fix  the  number  of  kings,  viz., 
three,  solely  because  three  kinds  of  presents,  '  gold,  and 
frankincense,  and  myrrh,'  are  mentioned  in  the  gospel. 
These  fables  have  not  the  slightest  historical  foundation,  and 
deserve  no  attention,  notwithstanding  the  endeavors  which 
have  been  made  to  consecrate  them,  by  erecting  to  these 
imaginary  kings  in  a  cathedral  (Cologne)  a  cenotaph  loaded 
with  jewels.  The  word  Magus  is  of  Persian  origin,  and  very 
ancient ;  it  signified  priests,  wise  men,  philosophers ;  it  ap 
pears  that,  from  the  earliest  historical  times  in  Asia,  these 


API'EIN'DIX.  511 

Magi  formed  sorts  of  colleges  or  institutions,  which  corre 
sponded  with  one  another,  obeyed  a  supreme  head,  and  were 
principally  occupied  with  drawing  up  calendars,  consequent 
ly,  therefore,  with  astronomy,  astrology,  medicine,  and  phys 
ics,  and  preserved  the  old  traditions.  Since  the  time  of 
Alexander,  their  credit,  science,  and  numbers  had  been 
greatly  diminished ;  the  current  of  philosophy  had  flowed  back 
towards  Europe,  in  consequence  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  as 
cendency  ;  and  the  foundation  of  Alexandria  had  grcatlj 
favored  this  change.  It  is,  however,  certain  from  the  testi 
mony  of  contemporary  writers,  or  nearly  so,  with  the  gospel, 
that  men  addicted  to  these  studies,  and  known  by  this  name, 
were  still  dispersed  in  Asia,  and  especially  in  Persia  and 
Arabia.  In  the  interval  between  the  overthrow  of  the  Jews 
under  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  their  restoration  under  Cyrus, 
Daniel,  the  author  of  the  prophecy  of  the  seventy  weeks  of 
years  which  were  to  elapse  between  Cyrus  and  the  gospel, 
had  been  the  head  of  these  Magi.  The  recollection  of  this 
remarkable  prophecy  would  naturally  be  preserved  among 
them,  and  would  be  strongly  awakened  at  the  moment,  when, 
according  to  the  impartial  testimony  of  three  Roman  histo 
rians,  a  rumor  was  every  where  diffused  that  a  master  of  the 
world  was  about  to  show  himself  in  the  East.  The  appear 
ance  of  a  meteor,  perhaps  of  a  comet,  struck  these  Magi,  who 
were  always  occupied  with  astrology.  They  believed  that 
this  phenomenon,  coinciding  with  the  date  of  Daniel's  proph 
ecy,  announced  its  accomplishment;  the  personage  whose 
advent  was  predicted  by  Daniel,  must,  according  to  their 
ideas,  be  a  king ;  some  of  them,  therefore,  following  the 
universal  custom  of  the  ancients,  that  of  undertaking  journeys 
for  the  purpose  of  verifying  facts  of  science,  went  into 
Judea,  not  to  a  village  like  Bethlehem,  but  to  the  capital, 
and  inquired,  '  Where  is  he  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews 
tor  we  have  seen  his  star  in  the  East,'  Matt.  ii.  2 ;  that  is, 
according  to  the  erroneous  ideas  of  astrology,  the  star  an- 


512 


CI11U8T    IN    HISTORY. 


nouncing  his  birth.  This  circumstance  of  the  nativity,  when 
thus  explained,  far  from  presenting  any  difficulty,  is  a  con 
firmation,  both  of  the  fact  that  the  expectation  of  the  Messiah 
was  general,  and  of  the  meaning  of  the  prophecy  of  weeks. 
The  presents  offered  by  the  Magi  afford  an  example  of  the 
ancient  and  universal  usage  of  the  Eastern  nations,  followed 
even  in  the  present  day,  never  to  approach  princes  or  great 
personages  without  bringing  gifts,  among  which  are  always 
some  pieces  of  gold ;  and  it  must  be  remarked  that  in  the 
Avholc  conduct  of  the  Magi  there  is  nothing  religious." 


NOTE  D.  —  THE  ESSENES. 

THE  following  is  Philo's  account,  in  his  book  called 
"•  Quod  Omnis  Probus  Libe?'"  It  is  obviously  exaggerated 
and  rhetorical.  In  other  parts  of  his  works  he  makes  differ 
ent  and  modified  statements.  "  There  is  no  lack,  in  Pales 
tine  and  Syria,  of  practical  virtuous  men.  Some  of  them 
are  called  Essenes,  on  account  of  their  holiness.  Their 
number  is  about  four  thousand.  They  are  truly  pious ;  they 
do  not  bring  sacrifices,  but  arc  striving  after  purity  of  heart. 
They  do  not  live  in  cities,  but  in  the  rural  districts.  They 
avoid  the  former,  that  they  may  not  be  polluted  by  their 
vices.  Their  daily  occupations  arc  agriculture  and  mechan 
ics  ;  but  they  neither  deal  in  nor  make  instruments  which 
are  used  in  war.  They  serve  and  aid  each  other.  They  do 
not  lay  up  money,  nor  care  for  riches  ;  these  have  no  attrac 
tions  for  them,  and,  therefore,  they  do  not  strive  to  secure 
them.  When  they  have  sufficient  to  maintain  themselves 
with  frugal  meals,  they  are  satisfied.  Frugality  is  their  only 
treasure.  They  do  not  trade,  and,  therefore,  they  are  not 
tempted  by  avarice.  They  are  free  men,  and  serve  each 
other  gratuitously.  They  reject  nil  employments  in  the 
service  of  rulers,  considering  such  service  as  inhuman  and 


APPENDIX.  513 

unjust,  because  it  is  opposed  to  the  common  law  of  nature 
and  of  man.  They  say  that  nature  lias  not  created  us  to  be 
nominal,  but  real  brothers  ;  and  that  it  is  only  avarice  that 
weakens  the  brotherly  tie,  changes  unity  and  harmony  into 
discord  and  strife,  and  disunites  friends.  They  are  engaged 
in  the  study  of  philosophy,  to  aid  in  the  promotion  of  virtue, 
but  avoid  all  kinds  of  sophistry  and  display.  From  natural 
philosophy  they  have  selected  only  those  departments  which 
treat  of  creation  and  the  Creator;  they  cherish,  however,  the 
idea  that  nature  is  above  our  comprehension.  Morals  are 
with  them  a  daily  study,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  their 
fathers,  which  laws,  they  hold,  cannot  be  interpreted  with 
out  the  aid  of  inspiration.  They  employ,  for  that  purpose, 
more  especially  the  seventh  day,  which  they  keep  holy,  do 
ing  no  common  business  in  it.  When  they  are  in  the  temple, 
or  in  the  synagogue,  the  young  men  sit  next  to  the  old.  and 
listen  to  their  teachings.  They  give  instruction,  not  only  in 
the  fundamental  virtues,  purity  of  manners,  holiness  and  in 
tegrity  of  life,  but  also  in  the  art  of  performing  public  and 
domestic  duties.  Their  morals  are  based  upon  a  threefold 
foundation  —  the  love  of  God,  of  virtue,  and  of  our  neigh 
bors.  This  is  the  test  of  their  actions.  Chastity,  in  their 
view,  is  the  first  of  the  virtues,  which  they  vow  to  ob 
serve  for  life.  They  never  tell  a  falsehood,  swear,  or  take 
an  oath.  They  are  not  nominal  saints ;  this  is  proved 
by  their  renouncing  all  earthly  goods,  which  the  human 
heart  desires,  as  riches,  honor,  and  pleasure.  Upon  all  these 
things  they  look  with  contempt.  They  lead  a  life  of  toil, 
but  are  temperate  and  free  from  cares.  They  make  no  show  ; 
they  are  humane,  modest,  and  never  deviate  from  their  regu 
lations,  but  exhibit  a  firm  character.  Thoir  benevolence  is 
the  best  proof  of  their  philanthropy.  Their  equality  and 
community  are  admirable.  Their  dwellings  are  open  to  any 
stranger  of  their  order.  None  of  them  has  a  dwelling 
which  he  may  call  his  own  ;  but  all  live  and  cat  in  common. 


514  CURIST   IN   HISTORY. 

What  any  one  earns  daily  he  puts  into  the  treasury  for  com 
mon  use.  The  sick  are  maintained  from  their  common  con 
tributions.  The  youth  cherish  for  the  aged  filial  reverence 
and  submission,  and  support  the  grayheaded,  when  not  able 
to  support  themselves.  Philosophy  raises  such  heroes  in 
virtue.  This  philosophy,  indeed,  docs  not  boast  of  Grecian 
high-sounding  phrases,  but  proves  its  excellence  by  induce 
ments  to  sublime  acts,  through  which  eternal  freedom  is  ob 
tained. 

TIIERAPEUTJE,    OR  THEHAPEUTES. 

In  the  DC  Vila,  Contemplativa,  Philo  thus  describes  the 
Therapeuta),  who,  if  not  precisely  the  same  as  the  Essencs, 
were  closely  allied  to  them.  Doubtless  they  had  a  common 
origin.  They  were  the  monks  —  perhaps  we  might  say  the 
mystics  of  Judaism.  "The  institution  or  the  philosophic 
school  of  the  Therapeutes  is  sufficiently  explained  by  its 
name.  They  call  themselves  Therapeutes,  and  Therapcu- 
trides,  that  is,  physicians  ;  but  in  a  higher  sense  of  the  word, 
because  they  are  chiefly  engaged  in  curing  the  maladies  of 
the  soul,  which  men  contract  through  their  evil  desires  ;  and 
also  because  they  have  learned  from  nature  and  the  Holy 
Scriptures  how  to  worship  the  only  God.  These  Thera- 
peutse  will  rise  higher  and  higher  in  their  contemplation  of 
that  which  is  divine,  when  all  visible  things  shall  have  passed 
away.  Their  institute  is  founded  neither  on  tradition  nor  on 
proselyting ;  but  in  the  principle  inherent  in  man,  to  yearn 
after  the  supernatural  ;  or  a  kind  of  inspiration  Avliich  impels 
them  to  the  vision  of  God,  for  which  they  hope.  From  the 
moment  one  enters  their  institute,  lie  is,  so  to  speak,  dead  to 
the  world,  and  alive  only  to  heaven  and  immortality.  They 
give  their  possessions  to  their  children,  friends,  or  relatives. 
They  leave  father  and  mother,  brothers,  sisters,  and  children, 
kindred,  friends,  and  country  ;  they  free  themselves  from  all 
those  worldly  ties,  which,  to  them,  are  of  no  value.  They 


APPENDIX.  515 

leave  the  towns  and  retire  into  the  country,  where  they  live 
in  solitude,  not  from  misanthropy,  but  that  their  manners  of  life 
may  be  free  from  the  corrupting  influence  of  the  conversation 
of  those  not  initiated.  This  order  of  men  may  be  found  in 
many  parts  of  the  country  above  alluded  to,  and  are  tolerated 
and  owned  by  Greeks  and  barbarians.  They  exist  also  in 
many  parts  of  Egypt,  and  live  chiefly  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Alexandria.  From  their  dwelling-places  they  send  the 
ablest  of  their  men  as  emissaries,  to  choose  the  most  con 
venient  place  for  settlement.  They  chiefly  select  the  coun 
try  around  the  Lake  'Mceris,'  on  account  of  its  temperate 
climate  and  safe  situation,  as  it  is  surrounded  by  villas, 
country  seats,  and  villages.  These  settlements  are  uncom 
monly  productive,  being  exposed  to  neither  great  heat  noi 
cold.  Their  houses  are  neither  too  near  nor  too  remote  from 
each  other,  in  order  that  they  may  enjoy  some  kind  of  con 
versation  in  their  solitude,  and  have  immediate  assistance  in 
the  case  of  necessity.  Every  one  of  them  has  his  own 
closet  for  prayer  and  devotion,  which  they  call  "  ae^vElov^ 
and  "  novaairiQlov."  For  use  in  these  closets  they  have  the 
laws  and  the  oracles  of  the  prophets,  hymns  and  ascetic 
writings,  as  also  scientific  works.  God  is  the  only  object  of 
their  worship,  to  whose  honor  they  perform  their  duties. 
Their  dreams,  therefore,  are  always  of  an  elevated  character, 
full  of  divine  images.  There  are  many  instances  of  their 
dreams  explaining  the  most  difficult  problems  of  philosophy. 
They  pray  twice  a  day,  morning  and  evening.  In  the  morn 
ing  they  pray  for  protection  and  blessing  during  the  follow 
ing  day,  and  for  the  illumination  through  the  heavenly  light ; 
and  in  the  evening  they  pray  for  divine  assistance  in  their 
meditations  in  the  law,  and  ascertaining  the  truth  in  the  San 
hedrim.  Before  their  prayers  they  endeavor  to  expel  every 
sensual  thought.  The  remainder  of  the  day  they  arc  en 
gaged  in  meditation  and  contemplation.  As  soon  as  the 
book  of  the  sacred  writers  is  opened,  it  is  expounded  through 


516  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

* 

the  assistance  of  the  traditional  philosophy,  allegorically  ;  as 
they  hold  that  in  the  literal  sense  is  concealed  a  mysterious 
one.  They  possess  also  many  commentaries  from  the  au 
thors  of  their  society,  whom  they  strictly  follow.  They 
write  also  hymns  and  songs  for  religious  worship  in  various 
metres."  Compare  Josephus,  Antiquities  xv.  10,  4.  Jewish 
Wars,  lii.  c.  8,  §  8  &  9. 

It  would  appear,  from  all  this,  highly  probable  that  Philo 
was  himself  one  of  the  Thcrapeutse,  at  least  in  theory.  His 
opinions  correspond  with  theirs.  He  reveres  the  sacred  writ 
ings,  but  interprets  them  allegorically.  His  system  is  partly 
philosophical,  and  his  philosophy  is  partly  traditional.  He  is 
devoted,  like  them,  to  mystical  contemplation ;  he  claims  a 
kind  of  inspiration.  It  is  quite  evident  that  he  rejects  the 
ordinary  view  of  sacrifices,  if  not  their  use,  and  spiritualizes 
the  whole  Mosaic  ritual.  He  believes  in  "the  vision  of 
God,"  pours  contempt  upon  government  and  policy,  and 
longs  for  the  suprasensible  and  supernatural.  His  great  aim 
in  all  his  books  is  to  "  expound  the  ancient  lessons  of  holy 
wisdom,"  and  in  fact  his  works  are  mainly  "allegorical 
commentaries  "  on  the  "  law  and  oracles  of  the  prophets."  If 
he  admired  the  Platonic  and  Oriental  philosophers,  he  ascribes 
their  origin  to  the  legislation  and  writings  of  Moses.  Hi3 
classification  of  mankind  corresponds  to  the  notions  of  the 
Tlierapcutae  —  1.  The  earthly,  who  are  devoted  to  pleasure  ; 
2.  The  heavenly,  who  are  occupied  with  human  sciences  ; 
and  3.  The  divine  priests  and  prophets,  who  are  the  true 
"  citizens  of  the  world  of  ideas."  In  a  word,  he  exhorts  all 
men  to  withdraw  from  external  engagements,  and  lose  them 
selves  in  the  universal  reason. 

We  must  acknowledge,  however,  that  Philo  vacillates 
somewhat  in  the  practical  application  of  his  views,  and  in  oae 
of  his  tracts  (De  Decalogo,  §  22)  he  attempts  a  conciliation 
between  the  theoretical  and  the  practical.  In  the  De  Migra. 
.libra,  he  informs  us  that  his  own  experience  had  taught 


APPENDIX.  517 

him  that  he  could  not  rid  himself  of  himself,  and  attain  to 
the  vision  of  God,  by  going  into  the  wilderness  and  abandon 
ing  society ;  that  it  is  not  "  change  of  place  which  brings 
evil  or  good,"  bat  that  "all  depends  upon  that  God  who 
steers  the  ship  of  the  soul  in  the  direction  he  pleases."  Per 
haps  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  himself  and  others 
abated  his  lofty  estimate  of  the  Therapeutae  ;  hence  we  find 
him,  in  the  De  Profugis,  castigating  those  who  pretended  to 
great  interior  sanctity,  yet  indulged  in  secret  vice.  He  ex 
horts  men  first  to  exercise  themselves  in  the  duties  of  com 
mon  life,  before  rushing  into  Therapeutic  solitude.  He 
maintains  (De  Profugis,  §  6)  "that  human  virtue  should  go 
first,  the  divine  follow  after." 

For  information  on  the  subject  of  Philo  and  the  Philonic 
philosophy,  see  Ritter's  Anc.  Hist.  iv.  p.  407,  et  seq.  Ne- 
ander's  Church  Hist.  i.  52,  GO.  Dahne's  Hist,  of  the  Jew 
ish  Alexandrian  Religious  Philosophy,  Halle,  1834.  See 
art.  on  Philo,  by  the  same  author,  in  the  Theol.  Studicn  n. 
Kritiken,  p.  984,  et  seq.,  1833. 


NOTE  E.  —  SACRIFICES. 

"  THE  idea  of  sacrifice  is  so  much  the  natural  and  necessary 
foundation  of  every  religious  worship,  that  it  appears  as 
such,  not  only  in  the  dispensation  of  God's  revelations  by  the 
Scripture,  but  in  all  pagan  religions,  from  the  Hindoo  and 
Greek  down  to  the  negro  and  the  inhabitant  of  California. 
The  horrors  and  abominations  which  the  desire  of  effecting 
the  sacrifice  produced,  for  instance  in  the  service  of  Moloch, 
prove  only  how  deeply  the  same  is  founded  in  human  nature. 
When  man  feels  his  indestructible  connection  with  the  Di 
vinity,  in  consequence  of  that  voice  of  conscience  which 
St.  Paul  mentions  when  speaking  of  the  pagans,  this  con 
nection  appears  to  him  either  as  that  of  a  dependence  upon 
44 


518  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

an  almighty  and  benevolent  power,  or  as  that  of  a  separation 
from  a  more  intimate  connection,  a  real  union  broken  by 
acts  wtiich  provoked  the  divine  wrath.  The  first  feeling 
will  prompt  him  to  thank,  the  second  to  attempt  to  propitiate. 
As  his  prayers  will  be  those  of  thanksgiving  or  those  of  peni 
tence,  so  the  acts  by  which  he  feels  the  want  to  show  and 
manifest  his  feelings,  will  be  attempts  either  to  thank  God 
or  soothe  his  wrath.  All  such  acts  fall  under  the  denomina 
tion  of  sacrifices,  whicjbi  implies  that  what  is  offered  to  God 
as  a  gift  is  considered  on  the  one  side  as  our  property,  and 
part  of  ourselves,  and  on  the  other  as  belonging  to  him. 

"  Now,  it  is  a  mere  corollary  from  the  first  truth  revealed 
to  us  in  Scripture  on  the  fall  of  mankind,  that  man  by  him 
self  could  neither  effect  such  a  real  atonement  for  his  sins 
as  might  appease  divine  justice,  nor  that  act  of  thanksgiving 
which  would  answer  eternal  love.  For  in  order  to  offer  this 
latter  sacrifice,  his  mind  ought  first  to  be  entirely  relieved 
and  delivered  from  the  consciousness  of  sin  and  the  divine 
wrath,  that  is  to  say,  a  perfect,  everlasting,  and  all-relieving 
atonement  ought  first  to  have  been  found  ;  and  again  there 
being  and  remaining  the  fear  and  consciousness  of  the  di 
vine  wrath  in  the  mind  of  the  natural  man  when  approaching 
the  Deity,  every  attempt  to  find  and  effect  such  an  atone 
ment,  by  offering  even  the  dearest  thing  or  person,  or  by 
excruciating  himself,  must  only  increase  the  despair  of  being 
reconciled  to  God,  or  confirm  men  in  external  rights  and 
ceremonies. 

"  Only  one  way  remained,  therefore,  for  a  divine  revelation 
which  for  ages  would  prepare  what  was  once  to  be  accom 
plished,  and  this  is  the  system  of  the  Levitical  worship  and 
sacrifice,  as  a  type,  and  such  a  consoling  promise  and  hope 
of  what  was  reserved  to  the  people  of  God,  and  through  the 
same  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

"  The  sacrifices  of  tho  Old  Testament  arc  typical,  and 


APPENDIX.  519 

according  to  their  peculiar  character,  all  are  sacrifices  of 
thanksgiving,  with  the  exception  of  that  great  and  awful  sac 
rifice  of  propitiation  or  atonement,  which  in  its  typical  char 
acter  is  so  clearly  described  and  explained  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews.  Christ  was  the  real  victim  of  propitiation, 
his  death  the  only  all-satisfactory  sacrifice  of  atonement." — 
Bunscji's  Hippolijlus,  ii.  200-202. 


NOTE  F.  — THE  EPISTLE  TO  DIOGNETUS. 

Tins  fragment  of  Christian  literature  is  published  some 
times  in  the  works  of  Justin  Martyr,  and  sometimes  in  those 
of  the  apostolical  fathers.  Some  ascribe  it  to  Justin  Martyr, 
and  others  to  an  unknown  author,  who  lived  about  the  same 
time  with  Justin,  (the  middle  of  the  second  century,)  or  perhaps 
earlier.  This  is  the  opinion  of  Neandcr,  who  says  "  that  the 
Christian  simplicity  which  reigns  in  the  letter  bespeaks  its 
high  antiquity,  which  is  further  supported  by  this  circumstance, 
that  the  author  classes  Judaism  and  heathenism  together, 
and  does  not  appear  to  deduce  the  Jewish  cultus  from  a 
divine  origin ;  and  yet  there  is  nothing  properly  Gnostic  in 
the  treatise  —  a  phenomenon  which  could  only  exist  in  a 
very  early  age."  Semisch,  who  has  written  learnedly  on 
the  life  and  times  of  Justin  Martyr,  concurs  in  this  opinion. 
So  also  does  Hefele,  who  has  published  the  letter  in  his 
edition  of  the  Patres  Apostolici.  Tzschirner  (Fall  des  Hei- 
denthums)  says,  "  that,  in  all  probability,  it  was  written  in  the 
days  of  Justin,  as  it  has  been  ascribed  to  him,  and  does  not 
contain  any  thing  which  can  with  propriety  be  referred  to  a 
later  age.  Its  tone  of  elevated  piety,  and  the  picture  which 
it  gives  of  the  Christians,  as  a  persecuted  yet  widely-spread 
community,  justify  us  in  assuming  that  it  belonged  to  an  ago 
when  the  new  faith  had  begun  to  raise  its  voice  with  greater 
boldness,  and  to  make  a  more  marked  progress." 


520  (JURIST    IN   IIISTOHY. 

THE  EPISTLE  TO  DIOGNETUS. 

I  observe,  excellent  Diognetus,  that  you  earnestly  desire 
to  be  informed  respecting  the  religion  of  the  Christians, 
and  are  particularly  careful  to  ascertain  what  God  they 
trust,  and  what  may  be  their  form  of  worship  ;  for  while  they 
contemn  the  world  and  despise  death,  they  deny  the  gods 
of  the  Greek,  and  disregard  the  religion  of  the  Jew,  and 
manifest  a  tender  affection  for  each  other.  What,  then,  is 
this  new  sect  or  institution;  and  why  has  it  made  its  ap 
pearance  now,  and  not  before  ?  To  these  questions,  highly 
commendable  on  your  part,  it  shall  be  my  happiness  to  in 
quire  ;  beseeching  God,  who  bestows  the  faculties  of  speech 
and  understanding,  to  grant  that  my  reply  may  be  a  benefit 
to  you,  and  that  you  may  never  have  occasion  to  reject  the 
instructions  received. 

Corne,  then,  after  having  freed  your  mind  from  prepos 
sessions,  and  the  force  of  delusive  habit,  and  becoming,  as 
it  were,  an  entirely  new  man  about  to  listen,  by  your  own 
onfcssion,  to  a  new  doctrine,  discern  the  true  character  of 
your  acknowledged  gods.  Is  not  one  of  them,  like  the  stone, 
trodden  under  foot ;  another  of  brass,  fit  only  to  be  wrought 
into  vessels  for  common  use ;  another  of  wood,  ready  to 
decay  ;  another  of  silver,  which  one  must  guard  lest  it  be 
stolen  ;  and  another  of  clay,  not  superior  to  that  used  for  the 
vilest  purposes  ?  Are  they  not  all  of  perishable  materials, 
and  are  they  not  forged  by  means  of  iron  and  fire  ?  Is  not 
one  of  them  the  work  of  the  stonecutter,  another  of  the 
brazier,  another  of  the  silversmith,  another  of  the  potter  ? 
By  such  artificial  skill  they  were  moulded  into  their  present 
shape,  previous  to  which  they  might  be  exchanged  for  each 
other ;  and  even  now  may  they  not  be  thus  exchanged  ? 
Nay,  could  not  those  very  gods  be  changed  into  vessels  ? 
Are  they  not  all  deaf,  and  dumb,  and  blind  ?  Are  they  not 
lifeless,  insensible,  and  immovable  ?  Are  they  not  all  liable 
to  decay  ?  May  they  not  all  be  destroyed  ?  Yet  such  you 


APPENDIX.  521 

call  gods,  adoring  and  serving  them,  and  so  becoming  alto 
gether  like  them.  For  this  reason  you  hate  Christians,  be 
cause  they  refuse  to  worship  such  gods.  After  all,  do  you 
not,  even  while  you  maintain  their  divinity,  treat  them  with 
yet  greater  contempt?  Do  you  not  contemn  and  wrong 
them  more  ?  Those  of  stone  and  earth  you  leave  unguarded ; 
while  those  of  gold  and  silver  you  watch  by  day,  and  shut 
up  by  night,  lest  they  should  be  stolen.  You  rather  punish 
than  honor  them  by  your  services,  if  you  suppose  them  en 
dowed  with  sense  ;  if  not,  you  convict  them  of  it,  by  wor 
shipping  them  with  blood,  and  the  smoke  of  burning  fat. 
Who  of  you  would  allow  this  to  be  done  to  himself?  In 
deed,  no  rational  man  would  voluntarily  endure  the  infliction. 
But  a  stone  allows  it,  because  it  is  without  sense.  Thus 
you  yourselves  convict  your  gods  of  their  senselessness. 
From  all  such  bondage  Christians  are  free,  of  which  I  might 
speak  at  greater  length ;  but  it  is  unnecessary  to  enlarge. 

I  presume  you  wish  to  know  the  difference  between  the 
worship  of  Christians  and  that  of  the  Jews.  Although  the 
latter  may  be  free  from  the  idolatry  of  which  I  have  spoken, 
and  worship  only  one  God,  regarding  him  as  the  sole  Ruler 
of  the  universe,  yet  they  greatly  err  when  they  pay  their 
worship  even  to  him  with  heathenish  conceptions.  The  Greek 
shows  his  folly  by  offering  sacrifices  to  dumb  idols  ;  but  the 
Jew  may  well  deem  it  equally  irrational  and  impious  to 
present  his  sacrifices  to  the  Deity,  as  if  he  needed  them. 
For  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth  and  all  they  contain, 
and  from  whom  we  derive  all  our  blessings,  cannot  need 
from  any  of  his  creatures  what  he  has  himself  given  to 
those  who  imagine  they  give  to  him.  Those  who  offer  to  him 
sacrifices,  blood  offerings,  fat  offerings,  and  burnt  offerings, 
supposing  that  by  such  means  they  do  him  honor,  vainly 
bestowing  gifts  upon  him  who  needs  them  not,  differ  little,  in 
my  opinion,  from  those  who  exhibit  the  same  devotion  to 
senseless  idols,  unconscious  of  the  homage  paid  them. 
44  * 


522  C1I1UST    IN    IIISTOHY. 

I  need  not  inform  you  of  the  scrupulousness  of  the  Jews 
respecting  meats,  their  observance  of  fasts,  new  moons,  and 
Sabbaths,  or  their  boasted  practice  of  circumcision.  These 
things  are  too  ridiculous  to  be  worthy  of  notice.  For  can 
it  be  right  to  accept  as  good  some  of  the  things  created  by 
the  Deity  for  the  use  of  man,  and  reject  others  as  bad  or 
superfluous  ?  Is  it  not  wicked  falsely  to  accuse  God  of 
having  forbidden  the  doing  of  good  on  the  Sabbath  day  ? 
Is  it  not  despicable  to  boast  of  the  mutilation  of  the  flesh, 
as  a  mark  of  the  special  favor  and  choice  of  the  Almighty  ? 
Who  does  not  regard  watching  the  stars,  and  the  changes 
of  the  seasons,  and  the  appropriation  of  some  to  festivity 
and  others  to  mourning,  with  the  superstitious  observance 
of  months  and  days,  as  a  stronger  proof  of  folly  than  of 
piety  ? 

Doubtless  you  have  sufficiently  learned  that  Christians 
abstain  from  the  common  vanity,  boasting,  and  pretension  of 
the  Jews.  But  the  secret  (f^vcm\oioy}  of  their  peculiar  religion 
you  cannot  hope  to  be  taught  by  any  man.  For  Christians 
are  not  distinguished  from  other  men  by  their  place  of  resi 
dence,  their  language,  or  their  manners,  for  they  do  not  dwell 
in  separate  cities,  use  any  peculiar  kind  of  speech,  or  follow 
any  unusual  mode  of  life.  They  propose  no  mysterious 
system  devised  by  man,  nor  any  human  dogma  whatever. 
They  live  in  Greek  or  foreign  cities,  each  where  his  lot  is 
cast,  and  in  matters  of  food,  clothing,  and  the  like,  comply 
with  the  customs  of  the  place.  And  yet  they  exhibit  a  life 
and  conversation  of  wonderful  paradoxes.  They  inhabit  their 
native  land,  but  only  as  sojourners.  They  take  a  part  in  all 
things  as  citizens,  but  endure  all  things  as  foreigners  ;  every 
foreign  country  is  to  them  a  native  land,  and  every  native 
country  a  foreign  land.  They  marry  like  others,  and  rear 
children,  but  never  expose  their  offspring.  They  have  all 
things  in  common,  but  rigidly  observe  their  marriage  vows. 
They  live  in  the  flesh,  but  not  after  the  flesh.  They  pass 


APPENDIX.  2<3 

their  time  on  earth,  but  their  citizenship  is  in  heaven.  They 
obey  the  existing  laws,  but  in  their  lives  transcend  all 
laws.  They  love  all,  and  are  persecuted  by  all.  They  live 
unknown,  and  are  condemned  to  death.  They  are  slain,  and 
behold  they  live  ;  though  poor,  they  make  many  rich ;  in 
want  of  every  thing,  they  have  abundance  ;  in  dishonor,  they 
are  crowned  with  glory  ;  when  defamed,  they  are  vindicated ; 
when  cursed,  they  bless  ;  for  injury,  they  return  kindness  ; 
for  well  doing,  they  are  punished  as  evil  doers ;  persecuted 
to  death,  they  rejoice  as  being  made  alive.  They  are  treated 
by  the  Jews  as  barbarians  and  foes,  and  by  the  Greeks  are 
persecuted  ;  but  their  bitterest  enemies  can  assign  no  reason 
for  hating  them.  In  a  word,  what  the  soul  is  to  the  body, 
that  Christians  are  in  the  world.  As  the  soul  is  diffused 
through  the  whole  body,  so  are  these  Christians  scattered 
through  all  the  cities  of  the  world.  The  soul,  indeed,  occu 
pies  the  body  as  its  dwelling,  but  is  not  of  the  body ;  so 
Christians  dwell  in  the  world,  but  they  are  not  of  the  world. 
The  soul  lodges  unseen  in  the  body;  so  Christians  are 
known  as  existing  in  the  world,  but  their  devotion  to  God  is 
unseen,  unknown.  The  flesh  hates  and  contends  against  the 
soul,  though  the  soul  injures  not  the  flesh,  but  simply  hinders 
it  from  indulging  its  pleasures.  So  the  world  hates  Chris 
tians,  because  they  oppose  the  pleasures  of  the  world.  The 
soul  loves  the  body  even  when  it  opposes  it ;  so  Christians 
love  those  by  whom  they  are  hated.  The  soul  sustains  the 
body  in  which  it  is  detained;  so  Christians  preserve  the 
world  in  which  they  are  imprisoned.  The  soul,  itself  im 
mortal,  occupies  this  perishable  tabernacle.  So  Christians 
inhabit  these  dying  bodies,  looking  forward  to  the  everlasting 
felicity  of  heaven.  The  soul,  checked  and  impaired  by  sense, 
only  triumphs  the  more  ;  so  the  Christians,  refined  and  disci 
plined  by  persecution,  only  increase  the  more  in  numbers 
and  in  elevation  of  character.  God  has  appointed  them  to 
tins  important  post,  which  they  dare  not  and  cannot  forsake. 


524  CIIUIST    IN    11ISTOKY. 

For,  as  I  have  already  stated,  it  is  no  earth-born  invention 
which  has  been  committed  to  them.  It  is  no  mortal  wisdom 
which  they  so  sedulously  guard  ;  no  human  mysteries  which 
have  been  intrusted  to  their  keeping.  The  almighty  and 
invisible  God  himself  imparts  from  heaven,  and  establishes 
in  men's  hearts  the  truth  and  the  holy  and  incomprehensible 
Word.  His  messenger  to  men  is  not,  as  some  might  imagine, 
any  servant  of  his,  angel  or  potentate,  intrusted  with  divine  or 
earthly  power.  But  he  has  sent  the  Creator  and  Governor  of 
all  things,  who  framed  the  heavens,  and  set  bounds  to  the  sea 
that  it  cannot  pass ;  to  whom  all  things  are  subject,  the 
heavens  and  all  that  are  therein,  the  earth,  the  sea,  and  all 
that  in  them  is,  fire,  air,  and  the  intermediate  spaces  of 
immensity.  This  Being  he  sent  to  man.  And  was  this 
done,  as  some  might  imagine,  to  strike  them  with  fear,  or  op 
press  them  by  tyranny  ?  So  far  from  this  being  the  case,  lie 
sent  him  in  mercy  and  love,  like  a  king  sending  his  son  — 
himself  a  king.  He  sent  him  to  man  as  their  Savior,  whose 
lips  should  speak  words  of  gentleness,  and  not  threats  of  vio 
lence,  for  violence  is  not  in  God.  In  mercy,  he  has  sent 
him  to  fulfil  the  kind  offices  of  invitation  and  of  grace,  not 
to  sit  in  judgment ;  though  he  will  yet  commission  him  to 
go  forth  in  judgment,  and  who  shall  then  be  able  to  abide 
his  coming  !  Do  you  not  see  that  those  who  are  exposed  to 
Avild  beasts  are  not  overcome,  but  only  increase  the  more, 
the  more  they  are  persecuted  ?  This  is  not  the  work  of  man, 
but  of  God,  and  an  evident  token  of  his  coming. 

How  miserable  the  condition  of  men  before  the  advent  of 
Christ!.  How  could  men  form  any  just  conception  of  God 
before  his  coming  ?  Or  do  you  confide  in  the  vain  and 
frivolous  speculations  of  the  philosophers,  some  of  whom  de 
clare  that  fire  is  God,  (calling  that  God  which  they  are 
themselves  rapidly  approaching ;)  and  others  water,  and  others 
again  some  of  the  other  elements  created  by  God?  Even 
supposing  any  one  of  these  opinions  admissible,  God  mi  ""lit. 


APPiilsDIX.  525 

with  equal  truth,  be  predicated  of  every  created  tiling.  But 
they  are  all  the  lying  wonders  and  impostures  of  jugglers. 
None  of  these  ever  saw  God,  or  had  any  knowledge  of  him. 
But  he  has  revealed  himself  to  faith,  by  which  alone  God  is 
seen.  For  the  supreme  Creator  and  Governor  of  all  things 
ever  was,  and  is,  and  will  be  merciful  and  gracious,  true, 
faithful,  and  long  suffering.  He  alone  is  good.  He  formed 
a  great  and  unutterable  purpose,  known  only  to  his  Son. 
Wrapped  in  secrecy,  he  seemed  to  neglect  us.  But  when, 
through  his  beloved  Son,  he  began  to  reveal  the  things  he 
had  from  the  beginning  prepared  for  us,  he  unfolded  to  us 
the  whole,  giving  us  all  things  freely  to  know  and  enjoy. 

In  time  past  God  suffered  us  to  be  carried  away  by  our 
own  passions;  not  that  he  delighted  in  our  sins,  hut  be 
cause  he  bore  with  them ;  not  approving  of  our  unrighteous 
ness,  but  thereby  convincing  us  of  guilt,  and  preparing  us 
for  tho  reception  of  his  grace.  By  discovering  our  guilt 
and  inability,  he  would  thus  fit  us  joyfully  to  enter  the  king 
dom  and  become  partakers  of  his  grace.  But  when  the 
measure  of  our  sins  was  filled,  and  nothing  but  punishment 
and  death  awaited  us  as  our  recompense,  when  the  time 
came  for  the  disclosure  of  the  divine  mercy,  and  power,  and 
exceeding  love  for  mankind,  then  he  hated  us  not,  nor  cast  us 
off,  nor  remembered  against  us  our  iniquities ;  but  he  was 
slow  to  anger,  and  took  upon  himself  our  sins.  He  gave  his 
Son  a  ransom  for  us,  the  Holy  One  for  the  unholy,  the  sinless 
for  the  sinful,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  the  incorruptible  for 
the  corruptible,  the  immortal  for  the  mortal.  What  but  his 
righteousness  can  cover  (hide]  our  sins  ?  And  by  whom,  in 
our  guilt,  can  we  be  justified,  but  by  the  Son  of  God  ?  O  the 
unsearchable  grace!  O  the  unexpected  blessing!  that  the 
sins  of  many  should  be  cancelled  by  one  act  of  sacrifice, 
that  many  should  be  justified  by  the  righteousness  of  one! 
Having  shown  us  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  salvation 
ourselves,  and  then  having  revealed  an  all-sufficient  Savior, 


52G  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

he  now  calls  for  our  faith  and  confidence  in  him  as  our  sup 
porter,  teacher,  physician,  and  counsellor,  as  our  light,  glory, 
strength,  and  salvation,  that  we  should  be  careful  for  nothing 
pertaining  to  the  present  life. 

Were  you,  Diognetus,  only  to  receive  this  faith,  then  you 
should  know  God  as  a  Father!  For  God  has  loved  us  men, 
for  whose  benefit  he  created  the  world,  upon  whom  he  be 
stowed  reason  and  intelligence,  permitting  us  alone  to  aspire 
to  him.  He  formed  us  in  his  own  image,  and  sent  us  his 
only-begotten  Son,  and  has  promised,  to  those  that  love  him, 
a  heavenly  kingdom  When  you  have  known  this,  with  what 
delight  will  you  be  filled  !  Plow  will  you  love  him  who 
first  loved  you  !  And  loving  him,  you  will  become  an  imi 
tator  of  his  goodness.  Wonder  not  that  man  can  become 
like  unto  God.  By  the  grace  of  God,  this  is  attainable.  To 
acquire  authority  over  others,  to  gratify  ambition  and  oppress 
the  poor,  that  is  not  happiness.  One  cannot  thus  imitate 
God ;  such  things  are  abhorrent  to  his  majesty.  But  he  who 
loves,  who  bears  his  neighbor's  burden,  who  helps  those 
beneath  him,  and  imparts  his  goods  to  the  poor,  becomes,  so 
to  speak,  a  god  to  those  he  benefits.  Such  a  one  is  an  imi 
tator  of  God.  Then,  while  yet  on  earth,  you  will  behold  Him 
that  reigns  in^  heaven.  Then  shall  you  begin  to  declare  the 
mysteries  of  God.  Then  shall  you  admire  and  love  those 
who  are  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake.  Then  shall  you 
rebuke  the  folly  of  the  world,  while  you  have  yourself 
entered  into  the  enjoyment  of  the  true  heavenly  life.  You 
will  despise  the  horrors  of  death  itself,  while  you  fear  that 
eternal  death,  reserved  for  those  who  are  condemned  to  final 
and  irrevocable  destruction. 

I  am  not  here  treating  of  matters  unknown  to  me,  or  in 
consistent  with  reason ;  but  having  been  a  disciple  of 
the  apostles,  I  am  become  a  teacher  of  the  Gentiles.  The 
things  delivered  unto  me  I  minister  to  those  who  are  sin 
cere  disciples  of  the  truth.  For  who,  that  is  rightly  instructed 


APPENDIX.  527 

in  divine  knowledge,  does  not  desire  to  learn  thoroughly  what 
was  communicated  clearly  by  the  Word  (Aoyog)  to  the  disci 
ples  whom  the  Word  enlightened,  conversing  freely  with 
them  ;  not  comprehended  by  unbelievers,  but  explained  to  the 
disciples  ?  Those  accounted  faithful  have  known  the  myste 
ries  of  the  Father.  For  this  cause,  he  sent  the  Word,  that  ho 
might  be  manifested  in  the  world.  He  sent  the  Word,  who, 
despised  by  his  own  people,  was  preached  by  apostles,  and 
was  believed  by  the  Gentiles ;  who  was  from  the  begin 
ning,  yet  appeared  and  was  found  a  new  being  on  the  earth, 
and  for  the  same  reason  is  ever  new  bora  in  the  hearts  of 
believers.  By  him  the  church  is  enriched ;  through  him  grace 
abounds  in  the  saints,  conferring  understanding,  unfolding 
mysteries,  discovering  the  future,  conferring  joy  upon  the 
faithful,  and  even  bestowing  it  upon  them  that  seek  to 
be  obedient  to  the  rules  of  faith  and  heavenly  wisdom. 
Then  is  celebrated  the  dignity  of  the  law,  the  inspiration 
of  the  prophets  is  acknowledged,  the  faith  of  the  gospel  is 
confirmed,  the  teaching  of  the  epistles  is  defended,  and  the 
grace  and  joy  of  the  church  made  to  abound.  If  you  do  not 
grieve  this  grace,  you  shall  know  the  communication  of  the 
Word,  when  and  by  whom  ho  wills.  For  whatever  we  are 
commanded  by  the  will  of  the  controlling  Word  to  utter, 
that  we  are  impelled  to  utter,  and  share  with  you  the  things 
revealed,  in  labor  and  in  love. 

When  you  have  read  and  studied  these  with  diligence, 
you  will  find  what  God  bestows  upon  those  who  sincerely 
love  him,  wrho  become  a  delightful  paradise,  within  each  of 
which  springs  up  a  beautiful  and  luxuriant  tree,  adorned 
with  various  fruits  ;  for  hero  are  planted  the  tree  of  knowl 
edge  and  the  tree  of  life.  It  is  not  knowledge,  but  disobe 
dience  that  destroys.  So  that  it  is  not  without  significance, 
that  the  Scriptures  declare  that  God,  in  the  beginning,  planted 
the  tree  of  life  in  the  midst  of  paradise,  revealing  life  through 
knowledge;  which  our  first  parents  not  using  lawfully,  wore 


528  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

despoiled  of  their  heritage  through  the  wiles  of  the  serpent. 
With  this  view  were  the  trees  planted  near  each  other, 
because  without  knowledge  there  is  no  life,  and  no  real 
knowledge  without  true  life.  The  apostle,  perceiving  this, 
and  wishing  to  condemn  the  knowledge  which  exists  without 
obedience  unto  life,  declares  that  knowledge  puffeth  up,  but 
love  buildeth  up.  Whoever  thinks  it  possible  to  attain  true 
knowledge  without  obedience  and  life,  is  deceived  by  the 
serpent.  But  whoever,  with  love  and  reverence,  has  knowl 
edge,  and  seeks  life,  plants  a  life-giving  fruit.  May  you 
have  the  knowledge  of  the  heart.  May  your  life  be  the  true 
word  of  God  inwardly  received.  From  the  tree  of  knowledge 
growing  up  within  you,  you  will  always  gather  such  fruits 
as  are  desired  in  the  presence  of  God,  which  the  serpent 
never  troubles.  Then  Eve  is  not  corrupted,  but  a  virgin  soul 
believes ;  salvation  is  displayed,  the  apostles  are  made  wise ; 
the  feast  of  the  Lord  proceeds ;  the  praising  multitudes 
gather  together,  in  beautiful  order,  praising  the  Lord ;  and 
the  Word,  instructing  saints,  rejoices,  through  whom  God  the 
Father  is  glorified.  To  him  be  glory  forever.  Amen. 

NOTE  G.— TESTIMONIES  RESPECTING  THE  ORGAN 
IZATION  AND  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  PRIMI 
TIVE  CHURCH. 

"  The  constitution  of  the  Christian  church,  like  the  politi 
cal  constitution  of  the  Germanic  races,  rested  upon  the 
idea  of  a  community  freely  submitting  to  a  divine  order  of 
society  which  calls  mankind  to  freedom,  and  makes  man 
free.  Christianity  was  a  free,  and  in  some  sense  a  secret, 
association.  At  a  time  when  Egypt  was  suffering  under  the 
most  iron  despotism,  and  when  the  Aramaic  races  of  Asia 
were  in  a  state  of  the  most  revolting  religious  and  moral 
debasement,  he  formed  a  free  people,  and  a  people  of  God, 
by  organizing  it  at  first  as  a  secret  religious  community. 


APPENDIX.  529 

It  was,  by  this  agency  he  threw  off  the  bondage  of  an  em 
pire,  mighty  both  in  Africa  and  Asia,  and  united  the  tribes 
of  Israel,  who  were  dissevered  and  trodden  under  foot,  into 
a  nation  of  universal  historical  importance.  Jesus  and  his 
disciples  formed  a  secret  society  first  out  of  the  children  of 
that  nation,  at  the  last  turning-point  of  "its  history,  when  sub 
jected  to  the  most  cruel  despotism  of  republican  emperors, 
and  amid  the  despair  of  a  highly-civilized  but  dissolute 
world.  This  society  Avas  based  upon  the  freedom  of  its 
members  from  the  Levitical  law,  on  their  equality  as  children 
of  God,  on  their  brotherhood  as  men.  It  was  this  society, 
established  upon  this  freedom,  this  equality,  and  this  frater 
nity,  which  vdissolved  the  greatest  empire  in  the  world,  and 
led  to  the  forming  of  a  vast  association,  embracing  the 
whole  human  family  throughout  the  world-wide  dominions  of 


"  Every  U>wn  congregation  of  ancient  Christianity,  the 
constitution  of  which  we  have  to  delineate,  was  a  church. 
The  constitution  of  that  church  was  a  congregational  con 
stitution.  In  St.  Paul's  Epistles,  in  the  writings  of  Clemens 
Romanus,  of  Ignatius  and  of  Polycarp,  the  congregation 
is  the  highest  organ  of  the  spirit  as  well  as  power  of  the 
church.  It  is  the  body  of  Christ,  the  embodiment  of  the 
person  of  Jesus  of  -Nazareth,  in  the  society  which  was 
founded  by  him  and  through  faith  in  him.  This  congre 
gation  was  governed  and  directed  by  a  council  of  elders, 
which  .congregational  council,  at  a  later  period,  was  presided 
over,  in  most  churches,  by  a  governing  overseer,  the  bishop. 
Bat  the  ultimate  decision,  in  important  emergencies,  rested 
with  the  whole  congregation.  The  bishop  and  elders  were 
its  superintending  members  ;  its  guides,  but  not  its  masters. 

"In  most  of  the  customs  and  ordinances  transmitted  to  us, 

we  find  this  active  interference  on  the  part  of  the  congrega 

tion  considerably  weakened.     Already  a  hierarchy  has  been 

established.    Nevertheless  the  congregation  elects  its  bishop, 

45 


530  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

and  invites  the  bishops  of  the  neighboring  localities  to  in 
stitute  him  into  his  office  with  prayer  and  the  imposition  of 
hands.  If  the  congregation  is  still  to  be  formed,  the 
bishop  names  the  elders,  three  at  least,  and  inducts  them 
with  prayer  and  a  benediction.  They  form  with  him  tho 
congregational  council.  The  bishop  elects  at  least  one 
deacon,  as  his  assistant,  and  appoints  widows  and  young 
women  to  take  care,  both  spiritually  and  bodily,  of  the  or 
phans,  the  sick,  and  the  poor.  If  the  bishopric  of  a  con 
gregation,  already  formed,  become  vacant,  the  form  of  epis 
copal  election  remains  the  same :  the  clergy  elect  with  the 
people,  &c.  .  .  . 

"  The  hypothesis,  therefore,  of  the  Presbyterian  divines 
of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  that  the  bishop, 
as  the  first  of  his  peers,  (primus  inter  pares,)  sprang  from  the 
elders  of  the  congregation,  falls  to  the  ground  as  unhistorical. 
But  their  idea  of  elders,  as  both  an  officiating  and  ruling 
body,  is  quite  correct.  The  ancient  church  knows  no  more 
of  a  single  presbyter  than  of  clerical  government  and  elec 
tion.  It  was  only  in  very  small  places,  manors,  (villa,)  that 
the  collegiate  form  was  not  adopted.  There,  a  single  clergy 
man,  who,  according  to  the  use  of  the  word  bishop  in  the 
Epistles  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  was  called  a  country 
bishop,  (chorepiscopus,  i.  e.,  country  curate,)  managed  the 
small  community  in  its  ordinary  emergencies. 

"  The  Lutheran  view,  again,  especially  that  of  the  Ger 
man  Lutherans,  according  to  which  the  clergy  formed  the 
order  of  teachers  in  the  ancient  church,  is  entirely  erroneous. 
The  church  was  a  government,  and  the  bishops  and  elders 
were  magistrates ;  they  directed  the  congregation,  but  with 
out  legislative  power.  Teaching  and  praying  were  open  to 
every  one  in  the  church  of  the  apostles ;  every  man  acting 
as  a  priest,  and  anointed  of  the  Lord.  .  .  . 

"The  nature  of  things,  however,  led,  as  early  as  the 
second  century,  to  collective  congregations.  The  small 


APPENDIX.  531 

village  communities  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town,  already,  to  a 
certain  extent,  formed  such  an  association  with  those  of  the 
city.  This,  however,  was  only  the  first,  and  an  imperfect 
arrangement ;  because  the  integral  parts,  with  the  exception 
of  the  town,  had  no  complete  organization.  The  principal 
towns  in  the  then  existing  provinces  of  the  empire  (and  all 
the  apostolic  Epistles  are  addressed  to  these)  formed  central 
points  for  the  province  or  island,  as  mother  towns  or  metrop 
olises.  The  bishops  assembled  then  in  synod.  Believers 
had  the  liberty  of  attending  the  sittings,  and  hearing  their 
discussions.  The  first  bishop,  in  age  or  importance,  pre 
sided. 

"  As  to  Homo,  Alexandria,  and  Antioch,  however,  the 
bishops  had,  in  early  times  incorporated  with  them  a  more 
considerable  portion  of  the  province.  .  .  . 

"  The  churches,  which  grouped  themselves  around  a  great 
church,  stood  in  an  organized,  but  strictly  hierarchical  con 
nection  with  it.  It  was  natural  that  common  interests  should 
be  treated  of  in  common,  and  decided  upon  under  the  presi 
dency  of  the  bishop  of  the  metropolis.  The  other  bishops 
were  joint  elders  in  this  council.  They  formed,  with  the 
parish  clergy  of  the  capital,  the  presbytery  of  the  chief 
bishop.  This  is  the  origin  of  the  college  of  cardinals. 

"  This  second  stage  in  the  development  of  the  church's 
constitution  is,  therefore,  already  infected  with  the  decay  of 
the  times.  There  were  no  longer  then  any  free  nations, 
but  only  municipal  unions.  The  ancient  world  did  not 
know  a  free  nation  beyond  the  municipal  limits,  and  there 
fore  had  no  representative  government.  Christianity  pre 
pared  this  by  clerical  senates  and  synods  ;  it  could  not  create 
nations.  The  congregation  was  free,  and  her  life  the  only 
living  and  free  life  of  the  age.  But  this  free  element  in  the 
Christian  community  remains  within  the  narrow  limits  of  the 
municipal  constitution  ;  all  beyond  that  is  unfree,  as  regards 
the  congregation.  Independent  and  autonomic  in  their  paro- 


532  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

chial   concerns,  the  congregations   are   excluded   from  tlie 
general  church  affairs,     .     .     . 

"  A  century  after  Hippolytus,  Christianity,  became,  under 
Constantino,  from  a  persecuted  sect,  a  recognized  religk>n, 
and,  with  the  passing  exception  of  Julian,  the  religion  of  the 
rulers  and  of  the  imperial  army  by  which  they  were  governed. 

"  Even  before  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  it  was  the 
dominant  religion,  and  the  Catholic  church  enjoyed  exclusive 
privileges.  From  the  time  of  Theodosius  downwards,  the 
emperors  carried  out  a  system  of  persecution^  and  the  bishops 
rivalled  them  in  an  almost  apocalyptic  manner.  Christianity 
was  from  the  very  beginning  admitted  into  the  empire  as  an 
episcopal  and  catholic  corporation,  which  centred  more  and 
more  round  the  great  imperial  cities  of  Rome,  (and  New 
Rome,)  Alexandria,  and  Antioch.  The  protector  considered 
the  bishops  partly  in  the  light  of  helpmeets,  and  partly  in 
the  light  of  subjects ;  and  this  is  the  point  of  a  convivial 
joke  of  the  Emperor  Constantino,  which  has  been  immortal- 
'-''  '  by  Eusebius,  comparing  himself  wkh  the  bishops  as  an 
episcopus  (overseer)  of  the  external  affairs  of  the  state. 
His  system  was  despotic  monarchy  ;  "so  was  theirs.  It  is,  just 
as  rational  to  build  upon  this  a  right*  of  supremacy,  as  it  is  to 
establish  the  theory  of  passive  obedience,  and  the  right  di 
vine  of  absolute  princes,  by  referring  to  Christian  govern 
ment  the  words  of  the  gospel  and  apostles,  meant  for  Nero 
and  Neronian  prefects.  Constantino  was  the  first,  but  already 
a  complete  Byzantine  despot,  and  would  have  remained  so, 
had  he  survived  his  baptism.  The  first  result  of  the  protec 
torate  of  the  Christian  emperors,  was  that  in  their  codes 
they  converted  church  ordinances  (that  about  baptism,  for 
instance)  into  statute  laws.  .  .  .  Evangelical  and  reli 
gious  freedom  then  received  its  death  blow  from  the  same 
police  crutch  which  was  given  it  for  its  support."  — Bynserfs 
Hippolytus. 

"  At  first  the  church  was  governed  according  to  rcpubli- 


APPENDIX.  533 

can  forms ;  but  these  disappeared  in  proportion  as  the  new 
faith  attained  the  mastery.  Gradually  the  clergy  separated 
themselves  altogether  from  the  laity. 

"  It  appears  to  me  that  this  was  the  result  of  a  certain  inter 
nal  necessity.  The  rise  of  Christianity  involved  the  libera 
tion  of  religion  from  all  political  elements.  From  this  fol 
lowed  the  growth  of  a  distinct  ecclesiastical  class,  with  a 
peculiar  constitution.  In  this  separation  of  the  church  from 
the  state  consists,  perhaps,  the  greatest,  the  most  pervading 
and  influential  peculiarity  of  all  Christian  times.  The  spirit 
ual  and  secular  powers  may  come  into  near  contact,  may 
even  stand  in  the  closest  community,  but  they  can  be  thor 
oughly  incorporated  only  at  rare  conjunctures,  and  for  a  short 
period.  Their  mutual  relation,  their  position  with  regard  to 
each  other,  form,  from  this  time  forward,  one  of  the  most 
important  considerations  in  all  history. 

"  The  constitution  of  the  ecclesiastical  body  was  necessa 
rily  formed  upon  the  model  of  that  of  the  empire.  The 
hierarchy  of  bishops,  metropolitan  patriarchs,  arose,  corre 
sponding  to  the  graduated  ranks  of  the  civil  administration. 
Ere  long,  the  Roman  bishops  assumed  preeminency  above 
all  others.  The  pretence  that  primates,  whose  supremacy 
was  acknowledged  by  east  and  west,  existed  in  the  first 
centuries  of  the  church,  is,  indeed,  utterly  groundless  ;  but 
it  is  unquestionable  that  they  soon  acquired  a  consideration 
which  raised  them  above  all  ecclesiastical  authorities.  Many 
things  contributed  to  secure  this  to  them. 

"  If  the  importance  of  every  provincial  capital  conferred  on 
its  bishop  a  peculiar  weight  and  dignity,  how  much  more 
must  this  have  been  the  case  in  the  ancient  capital  of  that 
vast  empire,  to  which  it  had  given  its  name !  Rome  was 
one  of  the  most  eminent  apostolical  seats  ;  here  the  greatest 
number  of  martyrs  had  perished ;  during  the  persecution, 
the  bishops  of  Rome  had  displayed  extraordinary  firmness 
and  courage ;  their  succession  had  often  been  rather  to  mar- 
45* 


CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

tyrdora  and  death,  than  to  office.  But  now,  independent  of 
these  considerations,  the  emperor  found  it  expedient  to  favor 
the  rise  of  a  great  patriarchal  authority.  In  a  law  which 
became  decisive  for  the  supremacy  of  Christianity,  Theodo- 
sius  the  Great  ordains  that  all  nations  who  were  subjects  to 
his  grace  should  receive  the  faith  which  had  been  delivered 
by  St.  Peter  to  the  Romans.  Valentinian  III.  forbade  the 
bishops,  both  in  Gaul  and  in  the  other  provinces,  to  depart 
from  ancient  usages  without  the  approbation  of  the  venera 
ble  man,  the  pope  of  the  holy  city.  From  this  time  the 
power  of  the  Roman  bishops  grew  up  under  the  protection  of 
the  emperor  himself."  —  Leopold  Ranke,  History  of  the  Popes. 

"  In  its  primitive  state,  in  its  childhood,  Christian  society 
presents  itself  before  us  as  a  simple  association  of  men  pos 
sessing  the  same  faith,  the  same  sentiments  and  opinions. 
The  first  Christians  met  to  enjoy  together  their  <5ommOn 
emotions,  their  common  religious  convictions.  At  this  time 
we  find  no  settled  form  of  doctrine,  no  settled  rules  of  disci 
pline,  no  body  of  magistrates. 

"  Still  it  is  perfectly  obvious  that  no  society,  however  young, 
however  feebly  held  together,  can  exist  without  some  moral 
power,  which  animates  and  guides  it ;  and  thusf,  in  the  vari 
ous  Christian  congregations,  there  were  men  who  preached, 
who  taught,  who  morally  governed  the  congregation.  Still 
there  was  no  settled  magistrate,  no  discipline ;  a  simple  as 
sociation  of  believers  in  a  common  faith,  with  'common  senti 
ments  and  feelings,  was  the  first  condition  of  Christian  society. 

"But  the  moment  this  society  began  to  advance,  and 
almost  at  its  birth,  (for  we  find  traces  of  them  in  the  earliest 
documents,)  there  gradually  began  to  be  moulded  a  form  of 
doctrine,  rules  of  discipline,  a  body  of  magistrates,  of  m&gis- 
trutes  called  TroeaHvieqot,,  or  elders,  who  afterwards  became 
riests  ;  fTr/oxoTio^,  inspectors  or  overseers,  who  became 
bishops  ;  and  of  diuxoi'oi,  or  deacons,  whose  office  was  the 
^are  of  the  poor,  and  the  distribution  of  alms. 

"it  i:> -iiLn.''.-    i:i!j>ns.;i!>!:>  to  determine  the  precise  fnnc- 


APPENDIX.  535 

tious  of  these  magistrates  ;  the  lino  of  demarcation  was 
probably  very  vague  and  wavering ;  yet  here  was  the  embryo 
of  institutions.  Still,  however,  there  was  one  prevailing 
character  in  this  sac-red  epoch  ;  it  was,  that  the  power,  the 
authority,  the  preponderating  influence  still  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  general  body  of  believers.  It  was  they  who 
decided  in  the  election  of  magistrates,  as  well  as  in  the 
ad'option  of  rules  of  discipline  and  doctrine.  No  separation 
had  as  yet  taken  place  between  the  Christian  government 
and  the  Christian  believers,  who  exercised  the  principal  in 
fluence  in  the  society. 

"  In  the  third  period,  all  this  was  entirely  changed.  The 
clergy  were  separated  from  the  people,  and  now  formed  a 
distinct  body,  with  its  own  wealth,  its  own  jurisdiction,  its 
own  constitution  ;  in  a  word,  it  had  its  own  government,  and 
formed  a  complete  society  of  itself —  a  society,  too,  provided 
with  all  the  means  of  existence,  independently  of  the  society 
to  which  it  applied  itself,  and  over  which  it  extended  its  in 
fluence.  This  was  the  third  state  of  the  Christian  church, 
and  in  this  state  it  existed  at  the  opening  of  the  fifth  century. 
The  government  was  not  yet  completely  separated  from  the 
people ;  for  no  such  government  as  yet  existed,  and  less  so 
in  religious  matters  than  in  any  other ;  but  as  respects  the 
relation  between  the  clergy  and  Christians  in  general,  it  was 
the  clergy  who  governed,  and  governed  almost  without  con 
trol."  —  Guizot,  Histoj-y  of  Civilization. 

"  The  societies  which  were  instituted  in  the  cities  of  the 
Roman  empire  were  connected  only  by  the  ties  of  faith  and 
charity.  Independence  and  equality  formed  the  basis  of  their 
internal  constitution."  —  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall,  fyc.  ch.  xv. 

To  these  testimonies  from  distinguished  laymen  we  might 
add  the  testimonies  of  nearly  all,  and  especially  the  more 
eminent,  ecclesiastical  historians  and  writers  upon  church  his 
tory.  Soe,  for  example,  Mosheim,  De  Rebus  Ckrlstianorum, 
Scec.  i.  Sect.  48.  In  his  ecclesiastical  history  he  uses 
similar  lanrrun/ie:  "Through  the  greater  part  of  this  century 


536  CHRIST    IN   HISTORY. 

[the  second]  the  churches  were  as  yet  self-governed  ;  nor  were 
they  united  in  any  alliance  or  confederation.  Each  society  was 
a  sort  of  little  state,  governing  by  its  own  laws  —  laws  either 
introduced  or  approved  by  the  people."  —  Century  ii.  p.  2. 

See  also  August!,  Hist.  Eccles.  Epit,  §  21.  "  The  form 
of  the  Christian  republic,  as  we  detect  it  in  the  first  and 
second  centuries,  may  be  called,  in  a  sense,  democratic,  be 
cause  with  the  entire  assembly  of  the  people  lay  the  right 
and  power  of  choosing  the  presiding  officers,  teachers  and 
ministers.  To  the  assembly,  (exxA^orfo,  church,)  in  the  stricter 
sense,  belonged  only  the  believers,  (niawl,}  those  Christians  who 
partook  of  the  sacraments,"  &c. 

Compare  Dr.  George  Campbell's  Lectures  on  Church  His 
tory,  4th,  5th,  6th,  7th,  8th,  and  9th  Lectures.  Gieseler's 
Ch.  Hist.,  vol.  i.  §  30  and  §  50.  Neander's  Planting  and 
Training  of  the  Church,  as  also  his  Church  History,  (Torrey's 
Trans.,)  vol.  i.  p.  179,  et  seq.  Whately's  Essays  on  the  King 
dom  of  Christ,  p.  138,  et  seq.,  3d  ed.  Barrow  on  the  Pope's 
Supremacy,  Works,  vol.  vii.  p.  302.  To  these  correspond  the 
views  of  Guericke,  Bretschneider,  Hase,  M.  J.  Matter,  and 
others  of  equal  eminence  as  theologians  and  church  historians. 


NOTE  H.  — THE  MIRACLE   OF  THE  LAST  FIFTEEN 
HUNDRED  YEARS. 

"  "  TAKING  this  high  ground,  that  Christianity  is  based  upon 
that  which  is  eternally  God's  own,  (reason  and  conscience,) 
and,  therefore,  as  indestructible  and  as  invincible  as  he  is 
himself,  I  am  truly  thankful  to  find  that  there  is  visible  and 
traceable,  in  the  history  of  Christianity,  the  overruling  power 
of  the  divine  Spirit.  This  Spirit  I  believe  to  be  infused  into 
the  universality  of  the  human  conscience,  which  is  identical 
with  the  God-fearing  and  God-loving  reason,  and  which 
answers,  in  those  sublime  regions,  to  what,  in  things  con 
nected  with  the  visible  world,  is  called  common  sense.  This 


APi'^XDIX.  GO/ 

divine  power  of  reason  and  conscience,  I  find  to  have  been 
so  great,  that  it  had  overruled  all  the  imperfections  and  errors, 
both  of  ancient  communities  and  formularies.  Any  Protes 
tant  Christian,  who,  taking  a  Protestant  view  of  the  world's 
history,  and  leading  a  Christian  life,  goes  naturally  and  con 
scientiously  through  the  history  of  Christianity,  can  feel 
himself  in  perfect  communion  with  the  churches  of  the  east 
and  west,  and  see  the  working  of  the  Spirit  in  the  Scholastic, 
and  even  in  Tridentine  definitions,  if  he  will  only  interpret 
the  Scriptures  honestly,  and  according  to  the  general  rules 
of  interpretation  ;  if  he  will  only  take  the  writings  of  the 
fathers,  according  to  the  spirit,  as  a  limited  part  of  the  de 
velopment  of  Christianity,  and  judge  their  speculations,  not 
as  aggressive  dogmatism,  but  as  philosophical  explanations, 
given  in  self-defence ;  and,  finally,  if  he  consider  the  de 
crees  and  formularies  of  these  churches,  not  in  the  light  of 
his  own  system,  but  as  they  were  understood  by  the  mem 
bers  of  those  churches.'-  —  Hippotytus,  i.  175,  176. 

"  If  there  is  any  manifest  proof  of  a  divine  ordinance 
[government  ?]  of  human  destinies,  it  is  the  history  of  the 
chufrch.  There  were  certainly  many  circumstances  which 
wonderfully  facilitated  the  spreading  and  the  maintenance 
of  Christianity.  The  ancient  nationalities  were  worn  out. 
Judaism  had  merged  into  Rabbinism  ;  and  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  had  extinguished  the  sanctuary,  with  which, 
since  Ezra,  the  Jews  had  been  identified.  Heathenism  had 
also  lost,  its  natural  basis  and  local  faith ;  the  unbelief  of 
th.e  Romans  was  grosser  than  that  of  the  Greeks ;  so  was 
their  remaining  superstition.  The  human  mind  was  yearn 
ing  after  some  high  and  restoring  union  and  fusion  of  the 
different  nationalities  ;  and  the  idea  of  a  common  truth,  born 
out  of  Christianity,  was  the  fulfilment  of  the  world's  deepest 
longings.  .But,  then,  look  r.t  the  difficulties.  First,  thon, 
was  tho  decaying  civilization  of  an  effete  world  ;  and,  on  the 
other  side,  the  l):iib;irisin  of  a  fresh  and  noble,  but  wholly 
undeveloped,  conquering  race.  There  was  no  nation,  no  n:i- 


538  CHRIST    IN    HISTORY. 

tional  life,  the  only  sound  supporters  of  a  pure  and  hallow 
ing  religion:  there  was  a  general  decay  in  literature,  in 
learning,  in  philosophy  ;  there  was  a  universal  despair  as  to 
the  destinies  of  mankind.  The  world  seemed  to  be  actually 
governed,  not  by  God,  but  by  the  devil.  Then  look  to  the 
inward  difficulties.  There  was  a  very  imperfect  representa 
tion  of  the  Christian  church  in  all  the  councils,  to  begin 
with  that  of  Nice  —  a  system  excluding  any  action  of  the 
laity,  which  means  the  Christian  people,  and  representing 
only  a  part  even  of  the  clergy.  Then  there  were  all  the 
intrigues  of  Byzantine  emperors  and  empresses,  imperial 
aid-de-camps,  and  palace  eunuchs.  There  were  the  pas 
sions  and  ambitions  of  an  uncontrolled  clergy.  There  was 
the  odium  theologicum  of  the  doctors.  Finally,  there  was 
the  rage  of  the  ruling  powers  of  the  age  for  realizing  Chris 
tianity,  not  in  social  institutions,  not  in  the  duties  and  works 
of  love,  but  almost  exclusively  in  hierarchical  discipline,  and 
for  making  the  sole  test  of  communion  with  Christ  and  God, 
consist  in  certain  speculative  formularies,  which  necessarily 
brought  their  antagonistic  principles,  and,  therefore,  schism 
and  persecution,  along  with  them.  This  rage  was  intimately 
connected  with  the  despair  of  the  human  mind,  and  with  the 
death  of  all  nations,  and  of  all  national  fcfe.  Debarred  from 
such  an  existence,  the  end  for  which  man  was  created, 
(because  the  only  means  of  realizing  God's  purpose  with 
the  world,)  having  no  fatherland  to  cling  to,  no  national 
institutions  to  defend,  all  the  leading  Christian  minds  were 
seized  with  the  appalling  idea  that  this  world  was  drawing  to 
its  end,  and  shared,  so  far,  the  despairing  feelings  of  the  rest 
of  mankind.  They  looked  to  another  world  with  faith  ;  but 
they  did  not  feel  a  vocation  to  make  this  world  itself,  with 
its  social  and  national  institutions,  the  object  of  their  Chris 
tian  thoughts  and  efforts.  Now,  the  great  miracle  of  the 
history  of  the  last  fifteen  hundred  years  is  that  the  world 
was  renewed,  notwithstanding  all  this,  and  that  the  funda 
mental  records  and  ideas  of  Christianity  have  been  saved, 


and  although  very  imperfectly  developed,  and  preserved  for 
future  development,  in  the  whole  of  Christendom,  as  it  ex 
ists  at  present  in  the  east  and  west"  —  L  177, 178. 


NOTE   L—  AXSELM  AND   AQUINAS. 

"  THE  true  metaphysician  of  this  period  is  St.  Anselm, 
born  at  Aosta,  in  Piedmont,  Prior  of  Abbe  and  Bee,  in 
Normandy,  and  at  his  death  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
[Born  1034,  died  1109.]  To  him  was  given  the  appellation 
of  the  second  Augustine.  Among  his  numerous  works  are 
two,  the  titles  of  which  I  will  at  least  mention,  for  the  titles 
indicate  their  spirit,  and  reveal,  moreover,  a  remarkable 
progress.  One  is  a  monologue,  wherein  St.  Anselm  sup 
poses  an  ignorant  man  who  is  seeking  truth  by  force  of  his 
reason  only  —  a  very  bold  fiction  for  the  eleventh  century, 
and  the  antecedent  to  the  Meditations :  [Cousin  here  refers 
to  the  '  Meditations '  of  Des  Cartes,  the  father  of  mental 
philosophy  in  modern  times]  it  is  entitled  Monologium,  sen 
Exemplum  meditandi de  Ratione  Fidti ;  Monologue,  or  example 
of  the  manner  in  which  one  may  account  for  his  faith.  The 
second  work  is  called  Proslogium,  sen  Fides  qu&rens  intel- 
lectum ;  Allocution,  or  the  faith  which  tries  to  demonstrate 
itself.  In  the  first  work,  St.  Anselm  does  not  suppose  him 
self  in  possession  of  the  truth  ;  he  is  seeking  it :  in  the  second, 
he  supposes  himself  in  possession  of  the  truth,  and  he  tries  to 
demonstrate  it.  The  name  of  St.  Anselm  is  attached  to  the  ar 
gument,  which  draws  from  the  idea  of  an  absolute  maximum 
of  greatness,  of  beauty,  of  goodness,  the  demonstration  of  the 
existence  of  its  object,  which  can  be  only  God.  Without  cit 
ing  St.  Anselm,  whom  he  did  not  probably  know,  Des  Cartes 
has  produced  the  same  argument,  &c.  .  .  .  Leibnitz,  in 
taking  up  the  Cartesian  argument,  refers  it  to  St.  Anselm; 
but  he  was  able  to  go  farther  back;  he  had  founds  it  in  the; 
genius  of  Christian  idealism,  and  it  w.is  worthy  of  St.  Antrim, 


f>40  CIIKIST    IN    HISTORY. 

of  Des  Cartes,  and  of  Leibnitz,  to  draw  it  from  that  source, 
and  diffuse  it  through  modern  philosophy."  —  Cousin,  Hist,  of 
Mod.  Philosophy,  Wight's  trans.,  vol.  ii.  p.  21.  ' 

"  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  was  born  rich,  and  of  an  illustrious 
family,  [at  Aquino,  near  Naples,  in  1225,]  who  naturally 
wished  to  give  him  a  good  position  in  the  world.  He  refused 
it,  and  entered  quite  early  into  the  Order  of  the  Dominicans, 
in  order  that  he  might  give  himself  wholly  to  philosophy. 
He  carried  into  his  order  the  same  disinterestedness ;  he 
constantly  refused  all  dignities,  and  would  consent  to  be 
only  a  professor,  and  was  called  Doctor  Angelicas,  the  Angel 
of  the  School.  He  understood  the  importance  of  the  Arabic 
and  Greek  philosophers.  He  greatly  encouraged  the  transla 
tion  of  their  works,  and  Europe  is  infinitely  indebted  for  all 
the  translations  he  caused  to  be  made.  If  Albert  [Albert  the 
Great,  called  Albert  of  Bollstadt]  was  more  learned,  and, 
above  all,  better  acquainted  with  the  natural  sciences,  St. 
Thomas  was  a  better  metaphysician,  and  especially  a  better 
moralist.  He  did  not  fall  into  asceticism  as  did  his  com 
patriot,  John  of  Fidanza,  otherwise  called  St.  Bonaventura, 
who  nearly  brought  theology  to  mysticism,  thereby  obtaining 
the  name  of  Doctor  Scraphicus,  the  Seraphic  Doctor.  St. 
Thomas  Aquinas  remained  faithful  to  the  philosophic  spirit. 
If  he  submitted  reason  to  the  rule  of  faith,  he  never  miscon 
ceived  the  extent  and  legitimate  authority  of  our  faculties. 
The  masterwork  of  St.  Thomas  is  the  famous  summation, 
Summa  TlieologifB,  which  is  one  of  the  greatest  monuments 
of  the  human  mind,  in  the  middle  age,  and  comprehends, 
with  profound  metaphysics,  an  entire  system  of  morality,  and 
even  of  politics,  and  that  kind  of  politics,  too,  which  is  not  at 
all  servile.  Among  other  things,  you  find  in  it  a  defence  of 
the  Jews,  who  were  then  persecuted,  and  were  so  serviceable 
not  only  to  commerce,  but  to  science.  He  could  not  dream 
of  the  civil  equality  of  our  days  ;  but  as  a  Christian,  he  recom 
mended  humanity  in  regard  to  them,  even  as  a  matter  of  poli 
cy.  St.  Thomas  is  particularly  a  great  moralist."  — Iilem,  p.  2(1. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


MAR    19  1943 


31 


. 

LD  21-1007n-7,'40(  6936s) 

YB  72267 


